A Confession Gone Awry
by Rave The Rich
Summary: Follow the journey of a young couple in love with seemingly everything against them! Multiple shippings with a primary emphasis on AppealShipping, shoujoai, shouenai, yuri, het, fluff, gambling, language. Please R&R! Back with its third season.
1. Overcoming the Odds

A Confession Gone Awry

It's an idea that I had in my head for a while about not only how to make a very bold statement in public, but how to uniquely express your love to somebody.

REMINDER: This fic is Appealshipping (Dawn/Zoey) with a slight amount of humor injected, meaning that it is shoujo-ai, or girl/girl love. If you don't like that idea, no one is forcing you to read this. Please do not flame. The point of view is entirely in third person. The ages of the two main characters have been upped to about 16.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by making this.

(Chapter 1- Overcoming the Odds)

* * *

Dawn was extremely nervous and antsy. She had just defeated Zoey in the semifinals of the Kanto Grand Festival, and in just a few minutes was going to challenge May for the title of Kanto Grand Festival Champion. The road to the finals was not an easy one to travel for the teen coordinator. In Every match she was a participant, the odds makers believed that her opponents would surely defeat her. From former Grand Festival champions like Solidad, and Robert, to coordinating standouts like Drew and her recent adversary Zoey, nobody had given her a ghost of a chance to even get out of the first round. She was able to defeat them all however, going five minute time limits and achieving victory on points with every one of those veteran coordinators.

She herself had been coordinating for many years, but found it hard to make headway in the Grand Festivals. She legitimately feels that this is her absolute best chance to win the coveted title that her mother Johanna won so many years back. Before she can make all of her childhood dreams come true, however, she has to do a brief interview with the press prior to the start of the match. She has been allowed some minutes to get her thoughts together for the final interview before she hopefully hoists the Grand Festival trophy above her head.

Meanwhile, in the backstage area nearby the minor commotion with Dawn stood a very skilled and astute coordinator by the name of Zoey. She is leaning against a steel post and is watching the girl that just defeated her in the semifinals. She is somewhat disappointed in her loss, but knows that there will be other opportunities to add to her two Grand Festival trophies. Right now, her attention is diverted towards Dawn. Zoey clearly notices that the girl has a major case of butterflies in her stomach as she prepares to get out her final thoughts before going into battle with May.

For many years, Zoey has had a very soft spot for Dawn. That soft spot would turn into a major crush which would become great admiration. Whether it was her constantly exuding confidence, her will to always stay positive or her beauty that she displayed in her appeals, Dawn had obliviously captivated the redheaded tomboy to no end. Coming to terms with the fact that she was a lesbian about two years ago, she made it a priority to become a very good (some will argue best) friend with the coordinator. They were already good associates since meeting over five years ago, and Zoey knew that if she worked to earn her friend's trust enough, the next natural step would be a romantic relationship.

'Every time I see her, she somehow gets even more beautiful than the last time,' Zoey ponders to herself. 'Her style, her grace and her all around inner and outer beauty remind me more of her mother every day, and that's why I love her so much. I just wish that she wasn't as nervous as she was. I wish I could hold her in my arms and tell her that no matter what happens, I'll still love you, Dawn.' Zoey silently sighs at the thought of what Dawn is going through in her very first Grand Festival final. 'Someday, Dawn, I will tell you just how much you mean to me,' she sniffles.

'Someday.'

* * *

The announcers in the booth are about to cover and break down the finals of the Kanto Grand Festival. One is the play by play announcer, named Tim Newsome, and the other, a former Grand Festival champion is the analyst. Her name is Danica Torres. They are given the cue by the director from their headphones that they will be back on the air in about 15 seconds. Both announcers cure their parched mouths with drinks. Tim has a bottle of water, while Danica gets a quick sip of her Diet Pepsi. They are now set to call the finals.

Tim begins, as the telecast is back on the air. "Welcome back, once again, ladies and gentlemen. Alongside 1988 Grand Festival Champion Danica Torres, I'm Tim Newsome. And folks, it doesn't happen that often, in fact it has only happened a total of three times in the last ten years, but we will cover a Grand Festival final where we will be assured a first time Grand Festival Champion, as two female coordinators will face off here tonight in the Indigo Plateau."

"No doubt about it, Tim." Danica interjects. "This is indeed the time and the place for the two young ladies that are about to clash here tonight. You will either shine like a shooting star, or be told better luck next time. One of the coordinators is Dawn is from Twinleaf town. Until this tournament, she had not experienced first hand what it was like to be a part of a Grand Festival final. She is 16 years old and in her brief career has won an impressive 42 ribbons. Unfortunately, like we mentioned, those wins in contest houses have not correlated into Grand Festival trophies. Much like May she can change all of that here tonight. With that let's go to our special correspondent for the Kanto Grand Festival. You may know him as quite possibly one of the greatest Pokémon trainers to ever come out of the Kanto region. Now he is training to take on the Battle Frontier in the Johto region, but we're so thankful that he has stopped by to greet us with his presence. Standing by with Dawn is none other than Ash of Pallet Town! Ash?"

After a delay of about two seconds, Ash comments back to the announcers. "Well Danica and Tim, thank you. For those that have followed my long career, they know that I have had many traveling companions on my journey. I can't tell you how proud I am that two of them are here in my home region tonight to battle it out for what will be either one's very first Grand Festival Championship. I am here with one of them right now in Dawn. Now, you have had perhaps the most difficult road to the finals of anyone in at least the last decade, having to go through a total of three former Grand Festival champions this weekend just to bring yourself to that status of champion in your own right. The question I pose to you is what will it take out of you to get just one more win and seal your fate in coordinating? You're on a roll right now, so how do you continue it in the right direction in just about 15 minutes?" Zoey is standing off to the side watching the entire episode take place.

"Well, I know that all the odds in this and all of my matches have been stacked against me in this Grand Festival." Dawn deliberately orates. Zoey hears this loud and clear, and starts to head closer to Dawn and Ash. "So my best bet would be to just go out there and overcome the odds again. It'll be difficult because I've never faced this opponent before, but all of it is just a matter of going out there and overcoming the odds."

A voice off screen interjects itself into the conversation. "Woah, woah, woah. Hang on a second." Zoey walks into the camera's focus, much to the surprise of both Ash and Dawn. "Dawn, I don't mean to step into your spotlight, but some of the things you were saying are downright absurd."

"Excuse me, Zoey?" Dawn inquires.

"I'm sorry, Zoey, but this is a live interview that we're trying to do prior to the Grand Festival finals." Ash rudely asserts. "Can't this wait?"

"All I want to do Ash is give her a brief pep talk, if that's fine with you and the network. After all, I don't think Dawn had much left to say."

Dawn is left a tad confused by these comments from her good friend Zoey during what is supposed to be her time. "Well, if it's alright with Dawn, I don't see why not." Ash replies. "Dawn?"

Dawn slowly nods in approval. "I'm fine with it. I need all the positive energy I can get."

Zoey, upon hearing this confirmation from Dawn proceeds to motion to grab the microphone from Ash. Though Ash is initially apprehensive, he eventually gives it to her after the producer gives him the OK from his headphone piece.

Zoey now begins to speak to Dawn as if she was the interviewer. "Dawn. You talked about how tonight will be about overcoming the odds, but I think that there are so many more people out there that don't get the praise and the respect they deserve, but everyday they just go out there and overcome the odds. What about the single mother with five kids who works two full time jobs to properly provide for her family? Does she not overcome the odds without any pomp and circumstance or pageantry or a microphone in her face? What about the serviceman who gets hosed by the same government that took him off to war with this wonderful entrance plan, and when he came back he was short about two limbs? Sure, he might get some assistance, but he is more often than not expected to overcome the odds, because he was trained to do the same in warfare. So when you look at it that way, even though he could cower in the corner in fear of how he will live everyday life, he goes out there and overcomes the odds and actually lives life, even if he has less than four limbs.

"When someone can break a cycle of depression and excise their demons, that's called overcoming the odds. To have those burdens seemingly lifted from you whether they came from a past incident or haunt you from adulthood is what overcoming the odds all is about. So when you talk about how you have to overcome the odds to win a... a Grand Festival Championship, the accomplishment ends up becoming somewhat underwhelming. Though the reward is there and will stay with you as long as you live, you still have countless opportunities to become champion in the future. If you lose tonight, you have a very good chance of becoming a finalist once again. But if the single mother loses, the children don't get anything to eat on the table for dinner. If the war veteran loses, the confidence of a family and a nation of future servicemen and women goes down, and he likely succumbs to guilt and dies a slow and painful death. If the sufferer of depression loses, his or her family are the people who truly suffer, as difficult decisions concerning his or her life have to be made and people are disappointed and feel betrayed because of choices that needed to be made. When you think about it, what are you really overcoming if you win tonight? You've beaten a total of three Grand Festival Champions this weekend alone, with me included. The girl you're about to meet is not a Grand Festival champion, but a formidable contender nonetheless, and you've beaten what I've considered formidable contenders over the last few days."

Dawn is beginning to get somewhat peeved. "Just what are you trying to say, Zoey?"

"I want to know why you think this is so hard. In my mind, I know of one thing far more difficult than this, and a lot more important than one of those trophies. I'm also concerned because you do not believe in yourself at all. You keep bringing up this 'overcoming the odds' crap, but I know you have everything it takes to win. No, scratch that. You have everything except one thing."

"What's that? And just what one thing do you 'know' is harder than becoming a Grand Festival champion?"

Zoey smiles widely at Dawn's question and grows in confidence upon hearing such an inquiry. "Well, to answer your first question of what one thing you don't have to become a champion, I don't think you have the full support of someone that will stand next to you and tell you that you really do have what it takes. And to answer your second question, well..."

Zoey in the time it takes to make two footsteps drops the microphone she was carrying, grabs Dawn by both shoulders, pulls her close to her and proceeds to give a full mouth-to-mouth kiss to the other girl. Ash, who was standing either behind or to the side of the two girls during the entirety of Zoey's 'pep talk' is mesmerized at the sight he's currently watching. He mouths some noteworthy phrases such as 'Oh my God', 'Wow', and 'Damn', before he is brought back to his senses. While Dawn and Zoey were occupied in osculation, the producers were screaming into his earpiece to pick up the microphone that Zoey dropped.

The kiss between Zoey and an initially unwilling Dawn lasted a little more than ten seconds. Dawn had attempted to fight it, but the buss became more addicting to the teen than any drug imaginable. She liked it, and in the arms of the redheaded hoyden, she was not scared. Zoey mimicked a security blanket for Dawn; the type she would rather maim and murder for than ever let go without a fight.

When Zoey pulled away from Dawn, Dawn found it somewhat hard to look at Zoey for two reasons. One reason was she was somewhat let down that the kiss didn't last longer and reason number two was that she knew full well what Zoey was going to say to her.

Ash holds the microphone near Zoey immediately after she starts to speak. "To answer your second question..." Zoey gently brings Dawn's chin up. "Look at me, Dawn." Zoey says with some level of sternness. "One thing that I know is harder than becoming a Grand Festival champion is telling someone very special to you how you truly feel about them. Dawn, I love you more than a friend could ever love someone, and I want to tell you that no matter what happens tonight, I won't love you any more or any less. In other words, going back to your first question," Before Zoey continues, she gives a light kiss to the nose of her good friend and serious crush.

"I want to be the one to give you full support here tonight, and as we go further in our relationship, wherever you want to take it. It's entirely up to you, Dawn. So if it's at all possible, I'd like to be in your corner tonight rooting for you. If you want to take me up on that offer, you know where I'll be. Let me leave you with something to think about." Zoey takes a curl of Dawn's hair that was in front of her face and puts it behind her head. With one final kiss to Dawn's forehead, Zoey leaves to go to the tunnel of the main arena of the Indigo Plateau.

To say the very least, Dawn was left stunned by Zoey's actions. Ash notices this and attempts to intervene. "Uhh, Dawn? I realize that that had to be quite a shock..." Upon hearing the word 'shock', Dawn is brought back to life.

"What? Where did Zoey go?"

"She left through that tunnel over there," Ash informed Dawn and pointed her in the direction.

Dawn runs as fast as she can in her Pokémon Contest garb. "Zoey? Zoey, please wait up! I need to speak to you!"

With the two girls both gone, Ash is left alone. He is shown on camera looking in the direction where both Dawn and Zoey went off camera. Ash breaks the silence, saying "folks, I can't add anything to what you've just seen. May, come in here." Part two of tonight's Grand Festival is now entering the interview area, after watching Dawn's interview on a nearby television. She comes up to Dawn with a very large smile on her face.

Ash is trying his best to remain professional in the face of what he just personally witnessed. "May, no doubt the finals of a Grand Festival tournament are not unfamiliar territory for you. You've competed in eight, but have lost all eight in your ten year career. What makes this night so different?" Ash places the microphone in front of May, but she says absolutely nothing. She just continues to smile. Ash brings the instrument back to his direction. "May? I asked you a question. What makes this..."

Ash's speech is halted when May turns her head to his direction and snatches the microphone from Ash's grasp. She simply says, "You've got nothing? I've got nothing." She then shoves the microphone into his sternum and walks off in the opposite direction that Dawn and Zoey walked. Ash gives her a weird look as she walks off and then turns back to the direction of the single camera.

Ash shakes his head and gives his final remarks. "Tim and Danica, back to you. I really do have nothing."

* * *

To be continued. Some of you will notice that I have updated this chapter with all English dub names now that they are all at my disposal. Please read and review!


	2. So Beautiful and So Right

A Confession Gone Awry

If you're seeing this, then that means that I have decided to make this a chaptered story. After MUCH thought and rereading over the story, I felt that I could go deeper with the subject matter, as there were a lot of items left open ended in the text. Another reason why I am continuing is because of the contrasting subject matter between this, and my other Appealshipping fic, 'Sharing'. While 'Sharing' is more along the lines of a dramatic romance with numerous twists and turns, this is going to be mellower, with more light and humorous undertones (i.e. fluff). The entire story will be in the third person.

NOTE: The Maple siblings (May and Max) use very colorful language in this chapter and chapters to come. I have a list of full names for this fic for the main characters that for those familiar to my other fic 'Sharing' are very much different. The pertinent full names so far are:

Maximilian Brenton-Alexander "Max" Maple

Georgia Caroline Marissa "May" Maple

Ashton Trenton "Ash" Ketchum

Zoey Domenica Neale

Shannon Dawn Chandler Berlitz

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 2- So Beautiful and So Right)

* * *

19-year-old May Maple had just left Ash in a state of confusion with six simple words; 'you've got nothing? I've got nothing'. May is not usually this ambiguous to people, especially to her good friends, but to May, what Ash and however many viewers at home saw needed absolutely no explanation. If there is one thing that May understood, it was love; an emotion that needs little to no elaboration even for those lacking in common sense, unless of course your name is Ash Ketchum.

'That Ash Ketchum is such an idiot,' May ponders. 'When you see two people kissing in front of you, it should be obvious what that means. Why try and cover it up like it never even happened? I mean, why couldn't he be a goddamn man and talk about it? He's impossible. Absolutely fucking impossible.' May sighs to this conclusion as she walks near the tunnel entranceway that leads to the arena floor of the Indigo Plateau.

"Hey, sis! Slow down, goddamnit!" a voice calls out. There are feet running and May turns around and finds her younger brother Max Maple, which causes her to sincerely smile. Max is panting as he stops running, and bends down to catch his breath. As a trainer, Max at the age of 15 has done exceptionally well for himself in Johto, Kanto, and his home region of Hoenn. He has earned a total of 35 badges in his career, and has entered five league championships, going to the finals of one, and the semifinals of three.

Since parting ways with Ash and Brock, Max has radically changed his look, as well. He cut his hair down even further, and bleached the top of his coiffeur blonde. He has also dropped his signature glasses and gotten contact lenses. To say the least, he has become a hot commodity as a rebel in the minds of young female fans of Pokémon training. He has also considerably grown, standing at 5'10", though he has a little ways to go to catch his sister May, who stands at an even six feet tall.

"How's it going, Max?"

"All right, considering I had to really haul ass to get here and be in your corner tonight. I just, and I mean 'just' got here, not even two minutes ago," Max explains. "The Viridian City Officer Jenny recognized me from my performance in the Indigo league, and got me through what would have been an over 30 minute security clearance. This Grand Festival final is the hottest ticket in town, and the promoters won't take any chances as far as making sure that this event stays safe. So, is there any new business before we go out there?"

May upon hearing her baby brother's question gives him the same type of smile that she gave to Ash some minutes beforehand.

"Yeah. This Grand Festival is in the bag; Mine."

* * *

Zoey is walking through the tunnel that would lead to the arena floor of the Indigo Plateau, where the finals will take place in less than ten minutes. She had planned on doing this during the finals anyway, but that was for the sole purpose of winning her third Grand Festival. Unfortunately, because of her loss to Dawn, she will not get that opportunity. Now, provided that Dawn doesn't want to rip her head off for kissing her on live national television, she hopes to go through the tunnel and accompany her not-so-secret crush to the ring area.

Walking briskly for about a minute or so, Zoey finally stops. She puts her head in her hand out of pure frustration. She had just admitted to the whole Grand Festival viewing audience that not only was she gay, but also that she was in love with Dawn.

'Did I actually just do that? Good Lord! What in the hell was I thinking?' It was a legit question that Zoey had her mind set on attempting to solve. It was exasperating, and she never even stayed to find out what was going on inside of the coordinator's head. In her mind her actions were very cowardly, as she just left Dawn in a wide-eyed stupor, while she left to in her mind not have to bear the brunt of potentially being heartbroken on live television by someone she truly cares for.

"Zoey?" It's a voice. The apparent object of desire turns around to see Dawn hurrying to the red head as quickly as she can.

"Zoey!" As Dawn calls out her name loudly once more, Zoey takes a gulp of her saliva and wipes some imaginary sweat from her brow, anticipating whatever Dawn has to say or do to her by just standing there in front of the entrance tunnel, as Dawn runs quickly to her destination.

Just the sight of the object of her affection at this point nearly made Zoey sick to her stomach. It is hard for the 16 year old to even look at her blue haired counterpart, and to this fear, Zoey closes her eyes, awaiting the worst.

Instead of getting an earful from the Twinleaf town native or worse, Zoey feels two surprisingly powerful arms clasp around the middle of her torso and Dawn bent down to one knee with her head down, and the pressure placed on her body causes her to open her eyes once again. Zoey is not sure what this means at all, because Dawn may still want to slug her for revealing something so intimate, and is holding her like this just to make sure that she doesn't try to evade her another second longer.

Then Zoey sees an action from Dawn that she did not expect. The girl who is bent down on one knee clasping her abdomen is crying, though she is doing it very softly.

"Dawn? Why are you crying?" Zoey is in somewhat of a controlled panic. Knowing full well the ramifications of her actions, she may have caused Dawn some unforeseen incidences with family members or unnecessary press in the near future from people who may assume the worst of Dawn. In Zoey's mind, apologizing now for her misguided assertiveness may be the best path to take to avoid any further heartache from this point forth.

"Look Dawn," Zoey softly lets out, "honestly, I don't know what came over me. You must think that I'm some sort of loser for coming out to you and... what I want to say is that... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for taking your interview time, I'm sorry for stealing that kiss, and... Even though I meant every single word I said and many more, I'm sorry for telling you that I love you. It was so, so... it was so..."

"...beautiful," whispers a teary eyed Dawn.

"What?" Zoey asks, not exactly hearing what the girl just said.

"The kiss, the confession, the offer; you put yourself on the line out there just a few minutes ago, and that was very brave of you," explained Dawn. "And no one has ever sacrificed so much just to tell me that they loved me. I'll admit that I was shocked when you pulled me close and kissed me, but... something about that was just so beautiful and it felt so right. It was much in the vein of prince charming in an offbeat kind of way."

"It didn't matter that you are a girl and I am a girl, as well. It was genuine, warm, and touching. I… I loved it." Dawn throughout this admission had her head down, and was not looking at Zoey. When she did bring her head up some seconds after she stopped talking, she saw the face of the redhead, including her rustic brown eyes and her signature sunglasses on top of her head, and broke down once more.

"Goddamn it, I don't even know what to think anymore!" Dawn screams. "You're a great friend, Zoey. But... something flowing deep inside of me is actually telling me that you could be... an even greater girlfriend."

Zoey gasps upon hearing that last word from Dawn. "Do you mean you want to…" Dawn covers Zoey's mouth.

"No. Please don't talk," Dawn pleads. "Like I said, I don't know what to think, because I don't know how I feel. But I know that you truly do care for me. You wouldn't have admitted that you were a lesbian it in front of millions of people live if you didn't. And the kiss. Oh my God! Like I said, it felt so right being in your arms and feeling your touch against mine. I... I just can't explain it."

"In my slanted and very biased opinion," Zoey rasps, "That sounds like love. You said so yourself; you can't explain it, but you loved it. You loved it." To this, Zoey smiles.

"I know, I know Zoey, but I'm a little scared that this is all going too fast. I have no problem with this type of relationship if I decided to go through with it, but I'd like it if we could just... slow down, you know?"

"But... what does that mean for us, Dawn?" Zoey is confused. It's not so much frustration as it is in her mind Dawn sending out very ambiguous signals. Dawn finally gets up to her two feet, and meets her friend face to face.

"It means… we aren't girlfriends. Yet." Zoey sighs sadly. "But, I want to give it a shot. And that starts with me accepting your offer to be in my corner tonight."

Zoey grows in hope upon hearing Dawn's request. "You mean it, Dawn? After everything that's happened I can be in your corner tonight?" Zoey asks smiling in anticipation, and waiting to hear the three letter word.

"Yes."

"Oh! Thank you Dawn!" Zoey squeals. Not long after thanking Dawn, she gives her an oxygen deflating hug, which nearly squeezes the life out of her healthy obsession.

"Zoey?" Dawn chokes out of her mouth. "Let me go, please?"

Zoey comes back down to earth once more, and she lets go of Dawn. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I'm just very happy that you would even let me in your corner tonight after what I did."

"Look, Zoey. I told you, its okay. I swear I've never gotten that kind of affection from some of the boys I've dated. I promise you, I just need time to think," Dawn quietly assures.

"Attention all attendees of the Kanto Grand Festival final," a P.A. announcer booms. "The finals of the Kanto Grand Festival will begin in approximately five minutes. At this time, we ask that all participants and corner persons please meet with security clearance at the tunnel entrances."

Zoey looks at her potential sweetheart in the eyes. "Speaking of time, it's time, Dawn. Remember that no matter what happens, I'll love you no more or no less."

"Thank you, Zoey." Dawn has a question, but is somewhat hesitant to ask it. "Umm. Could you do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

Dawn uneasily smiles. "Will you give me a good luck kiss before I go out there?"

Zoey laughs softly, and gently grabs Dawn by her waist, pulling her in ever so slightly. "You don't need any luck, but you don't even have to ask, Dawn."

The two come together in a buss once more. This time, both parties wholeheartedly consent to the favorite activity of affection that many lovers participate in. To avoid any slipping, the two hold onto each other's backs. Zoey even opens her mouth for a scant few seconds, allowing for some French kissing, which to Zoey's surprise, Dawn doesn't back out of. After 15 seconds, they finally break the kiss.

"I love you, Dawn," Zoey says with a sincere smile.

"I know you do, Zoey. You wouldn't have risked everything just to say it to me." Dawn brings her head down for a moment. "I just… as a friend, I do love you, but I have to know if this is real. I never thought that I would have fancied another girl, but like I said, a part of me could see me with you. God, I wish I knew what I could do to figure out my feelings."

"Maybe," Zoey regretfully suggests, "you should take your mind off of it for a while. If it's genuine, it will come back to you; that feeling of longing that you get when you want something so badly…" Zoey is starting to cry. "It hurts most of the time. Especially at nights when you're alone and you know that the one person who can cure your pain… could be so close," At this point, Zoey's entire body is shaking, and her face is saturated in tears. "Yet she's so far away at the same time."

Dawn has had enough. She holds her red headed counterpart in her arms tightly. "Oh Zoey. Zoey, please don't cry. You're gonna make me get emotional."

"But something always kept me going," Zoey says while smiling with tears still in her eyes. "The fact is that no matter what, I know you would never hate me for confessing my feelings. There's not a hateful fiber in your being. And I suppose that's another reason why I fell hard for you. I couldn't help it. I'm like an addict; I was hooked to you—I _am_ hooked to you."

"There, there. It's okay," Dawn says, hugging her friend. "I'm here now, and I don't plan on leaving you in the dark about my feelings. I don't need you to get all emotional here when I'm the one that has to compete tonight." Zoey sniffles and laughs at that comment from her friend on the fence. Dawn takes her handkerchief, and wipes away whatever tears remained on Zoey's face.

"Okay. For you, I'll try and keep myself together. Deal?"

"Deal Zoey."

After a minute or so of silence, Zoey looks around for just a moment. "Well, Dawn. Are you ready to kick May's butt tonight or what? Are you ready to become a Grand Festival champion and make all of your Pokémon coordinating dreams come true?"

Dawn rubs her chin in an animated fashion; it's a joking action that would assume that she has put much thought into this final match with May.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, Zoey," Dawn once again assures. "And you know something? Having you by me side tonight—it gives me strength. And I don't feel as nervous in unfamiliar territory, because you're right there with me."

"Attention all attendees of the Kanto Grand Festival final," again booms the P.A. announcer. "The finals of the Kanto Grand Festival are about to begin momentarily. At this time, we ask that all participants and corner persons please meet with security clearance at the tunnel entrances. This is your last call."

Zoey steals a quick kiss on Dawn's cheek and gives her a smile. "They're waiting for us."

"If I had it my way," Dawn elaborates, "I'd keep 'em waiting for a long time. There's so much I wanna say, and so much I wanna find out." Dawn then holds both of Zoey's hands. "But all I have at this point is time. If you're willing to wait, then… we'll see. Okay?"

"Okay," Zoey says softly. "Wait. I have a quick question. If we're not girlfriends, then what are we?"

"Umm… transitional friends?"

Zoey chuckles. "Fine by me. Though I want so badly to be more, I'm fine with being your friend, 'cause I value our friendship."

"Thank you, Zoey. You know, I value our friendship, as well."

"Come on," Zoey says. "You've got a job to do."

Dawn and Zoey then grab each other's far shoulder and walk to the tunnel entranceway together. Though as of this moment they are not girlfriends, Dawn made an excellent point in that the two are currently in transition. They truly care for each other, but the only question is whether or not Dawn shares the same feelings for Zoey that she does for her.

In Dawn's mind, there will be plenty of time to seriously consider this, but for now, like Zoey said, she has a job to do. But with Zoey not that far away from her, the task seems nowhere near as daunting as it did just 30 minutes ago. To Dawn, Zoey has given her the calm before the storm, and eased her tension in a nerve racking situation. It was just what Dawn needed, and for that, she thanks her redheaded friend for being just that; a friend.

* * *

"All of that happened while I was getting here?" Max could not believe the activities and the goings on prior to the Grand Festival final that May was explaining to him as the tandem walked to the entranceway. "I need to get to these things earlier. Shit, the next one I go to might have a full on sex scene!"

May hits Max on his shoulder very hard as they walk to the tunnel opposite to the one that Dawn and Zoey are walking through. "Will you fucking cut it out, you… boy? I promise you; once you get serious with somebody, you won't be spouting that bullshit out of your mouth anymore."

"Okay, you make a good point," Max admits. "What I meant was, and you know this as well as I know this, what happened in that interview was very much out of the ordinary. You can be happy for them all you want, throw them a fucking pride parade for all I care, but not too many people will be pleased that they saw that, especially the moralistic high and mighty right. They'll wanna hang both Dawn and Zoey for this, and May, what about what their parents will think when they see this, if they haven't already seen this?"

"Max," May says. "All I can say is… if Zoey and Dawn can overcome the odds and get through this, then more goddamn power to them. But… even though it sounds cruel, we can't worry about them now, especially now that Dawn is my competition tonight."

"Hey," Max says smiling. "Life's pretty damn funny, huh?"

"You've got plenty of time to figure that out for yourself," May then pats Max's head, "_little_ brother."

* * *

A/N: That's all for now. The next chapter has the battle, the return of the still confused Ash Ketchum, and a celebration, but for whom? Please read and review!


	3. Far More Important Than a Grand Festival

A Confession Gone Awry

It's the finals of the Kanto Grand Festival between May and Dawn! But before that, the finalists were joined by their corner persons. May is joined by her younger brother Max, and Dawn confronted Zoey to tell her that she accepts her offer from her interview some 15 minutes ago. Zoey is madly in love with Dawn and has told her this, and although Dawn admits to also having feelings for Zoey, Dawn is more content with taking things slowly, and confirming her feelings as being of a genuine and romantic nature. May and Max discuss the on air kiss. Aside from some college humor from Max, they seriously discuss the ramifications of making these types of feelings known to the public.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 3- Far More Important Than a Grand Festival)

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you back to our live coverage of this year's Kanto Grand Festival. I'm your host Tim Newsome, along with my co-host, the 1988 Grand Festival Champion Danica Torres and standout Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum, who is now joining us in the booth as we do pre and post-match analysis on this final bout."

"That's right, Tim," Danica adds. "It's the finals of the 2012 Kanto Grand Festival between May Maple of Petalburg City in the Hoenn region and Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region. And speaking of finals, let's get out our final thoughts before we go to Miss Lillian Meridian for introductions and the match. Tim? Please lead off."

Enthusiastically, Tim gets the ball rolling with his final thought. "My final thought tonight is all about 'Water and Fire'. May's signature Pokémon used in contest battles over the last six years has been her Blaziken. It has brought her to a total of eight Grand Festival finals, but she has lost all eight of those finals, which has given her the unenviable label of 'The Choking Chicken', but tonight is no laughing matter, as tonight is her ninth attempt at a title, and this time unlike the other eight, she does not face a former Grand Festival Champion, and that leads to Dawn Berlitz.

"Her Pokémon that she uses most often in the battle portions is her Empoleon, which is actually a water/steel type, but this has only recently been the case, as she had previously used her Lopunny or her Pachirisu in the battle portion, and switched about six months prior to this Grand Festival. Will Dawn's type advantage come into play tonight in what is expected to be the choices for these two young ladies, or will either of them throw a curveball by pulling out a Pokémon that none of us expect. Danica?"

"Tim, my final thought is 'cooler heads will prevail'. Looking at both of these top competitors, it's very obvious that there is a different attitude felt by both. Dawn has been quite nervous since the semifinals when she defeated Zoey D. Neale in another time limit match. May Maple however has been quite serene, joking with some of the reporters and when I attempted to get her thoughts about going to another Grand Festival final, she really didn't want to talk about it. To the casual viewer, it May seem that May could care less about this, but I can assure you all, May Maple is not- I repeat, not taking this Grand Festival final lightly, and she is certainly not taking Dawn Berlitz lightly, either. Ash, your thoughts?"

Those that see Ash on the television screen can tell that he is a nervous wreck, only fifteen minutes removed from the interview he gave to his good friend, Dawn. He could not believe the events that occurred right in front of his eyes. The gist of his nervousness can be summarized in the fact that Zoey D. Neale is apparently a lesbian, and she confessed her admirations to Dawn by taking over her interview time and eventually kissing her... on a live television event, where many millions of people were expected to watch. The shock had not quite worn off for the 22 year old from Pallet Town, and Tim and Danica knew this. They both fought hard with the producer to not have Ash in the booth doing pre and post-match coverage, as they (correctly) felt that he was not in the proper mind to deliver his thoughts. The producer, however, overruled the twosome, insisting that a native of the Kanto region be present in the booth.

Needless to say, Tim and Danica were not happy with the fact that they had to work with Ash in his present state. The producer warned them however that they had no choice but to work with Ash, and were also warned to not talk about what happened on air (i.e., ignore what everyone at home saw) and to remain cheerful while on camera.

"Umm..." Ash begins, clearly not into giving his 'final thoughts'. "My final thought involves 'experience'. Danica allowed-- alluded to it, and Tim mentioned it, and I'll go farther-- sorry. I'll go further with it. This will be May's ninth Grand Fesitval final, and Dawn has never reached this level prior to tonight. So for Dawn, the different atmosphere of knowing that you are only one win away from history should be waiting-- sorry. It should be weighing heavily on her mind right now among other things. For May, things are different. She knows exactly what she's in for, but tonight is the ultimate test. Neither girl has been a Grand Festival champion, but in five minutes or less... all of that will change. And those are my final thoughts."

"Folks, let's not wait another second longer!" Tim says, enthusiastically. "Let's go to our ring announcer, Lillian Meridian to do the call!"

* * *

"Pokémon coordinating fans, welcome to the finals of the 2012 Kanto Grand Festival!" Lillian's announcement warrants a massive amount of cheering from the fans in the Indigo Plateau. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, here are the rules; in just a few minutes, two Pokémon coordinators will enter the ring and go five minutes with each one of their Pokémon in battle. The objective is to battle until your opponent is unable to do so, but attack in a manner that is graceful, stylistic, and appealing to the eye. Our five judges in attendance this evening will judge on those traits."

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce the five judges in attendance for tonight's event. First of all, the Pokémon contest and coordinating director, considered by many to be the main aficionado of the sport. He is Mr. Raoul Contesta!" To this introduction, Contesta waves to the crowd.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, judge number two is the local Viridian City Nurse Joy!" Joy curtsies to her introduction as Meridian continues. "Judge Number three is the president of the Pokémon fan club, Mr. Suziko!" Suziko humbly bows to his introduction.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, our surprise judges for this evening. Judge number four is quite possibly the top researcher under the age of 30 in the world of Pokémon. Ash Ketchum is not the only Pallet town native that has joined us tonight; please welcome young Master Gary Oak!" Gary heads to the fourth podium and sits down. He waved to the crowd while making his way to his seat. Ash commented in the booth to himself two simple words; 'That Gary,' and smiled as Gary sat down.

"And the fifth and final judge for this contest, she and her team have done an absolutely outstanding job policing this event, and now she will get to enjoy it up close and personal. She is the Viridian City Officer Jenny!" Coming to ringside on her moped, Jenny greets the crowd with waving and takes the vacant seat next to Gary.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time; for the introductions of the two participants in this Grand Festival final!" The two were already seated ringside, and at security clearance, they were told that after Miss Meridian's remarks post introduction of the judges, they along with their corner persons were to go up to the ring to be properly introduced. After thirty seconds, everyone is positioned, and Meridian is given the cue to restart announcements.

"Introducing first of all in the corner to my left, the corner person is Pokémon league championship standout from Petalburg City, Max Maple!" Max does not wave to the crowd; rather he rubs her sister's shoulders and whispers some final encouraging words into her ear.

"Actually win this one so that I don't have to fucking come back here anymore for 'moral support'."

"Fuck you, dipshit. I thought I told you this is in the bag... Brenton-Alexander." May retorts back to him in her own whisper.

"You know I fucking hate that" Max this time says to his sister.

"That's why I said it, _baby_ brother." Max snarls to this comment by May and decides to take a seat.

"He stands in the corner of the young lady also from Petalburg City in the Hoenn region," Meridian continues. "She is 19 years old, and has been coordinating for ten years. She has won a total of 83 ribbons, and has been to the finals of eight Grand Festivals, losing all eight. Tonight, she hopes to improve this fate of futility with a victory here tonight. She is May... Maple!" May raises both of her arms high in the air, and then points up into the air with both hands.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, in the corner to my right, the corner person is a semifinalist of this year's Grand Festival, and a two time former champion from Snowpoint City, here is Zoey D. Neale!" Zoey waves, but is getting a noticeable mix of cheers and boos from the audience.

"She stands in the corner of the young lady from Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region. She is 16 years old. She has been coordinating for seven years, winning 42 ribbons, and she will be making her maiden appearance in the finals of a Grand Festival tournament in just a minute. The question on the minds of many tonight is, can she overcome outstanding odds for a fifth time tonight, winning a match that the odds makers have not favored her in once again? She has defeated a total of four former Grand Festival champions in a field of 32 challengers just to get to this point, but at this point, all that matters for her is one more win. Please welcome Dawn... Berlitz!" Much like her self-proclaimed friend in transition, Dawn also received a mixed reaction.

Zoey says to her while behind her back, "We're quite popular, aren't we? Don't worry about it. They'll never understand. Remember, it's just you out there, Dawn." Before Zoey takes the stairs to one of the two dugout areas for corner persons, Zoey blows Dawn a kiss.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is one final order of business prior to the start of the battle," says Meridian. "The two competitors will meet in the middle of the ring and converse before they will be ordered back to their end of the ring floor to commence with battling. Dawn? May? The stage... is yours!"

Dawn Berlitz and May Maple meet in the center of the ring. It is there when they come face to face that the viewer can see truly how much larger May is compared to Dawn. While May is nearly 6'1" tall and very muscularly defined, Dawn has remained quite petite, and she stands only 5'4" tall. Upon meeting, the Indigo Plateau erupts into a large bout of cheering.

May is able to see that Dawn has a bad case of butterflies in her stomach. As a friend (more so an acquaintance of Ash) she wants to help her, but as a competitor, she regretfully knows that she has to protect her business first.

"You don't look like you're all here," says May. "No worries, though. It's just another battle."

"I have a lot on my mind," Dawn admits, and then gives a weak smile. "I've got the finals, but after this," Dawn pauses to take a brief look at Zoey while still remaining inconspicuous. "Something that I've found to be far more important than this has to be figured out."

"I know about you and Zoey," May says, without hesitation.

"What the hell? You know?" Dawn asks, in a near panic.

"Me and many millions of people," May defends. Dawn drops her head for a moment. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Honestly! I myself have... experimented with the same sex in the past. It helped especially those times where I otherwise would have been left to deal with sexual frustrations alone... in some other way. I stopped when I found the love of my life in the young man you beat earlier today, Drew. And we've been traveling together as boyfriend and girlfriend since we were your age."

"Zoey and I... are not a couple... yet. I'm thinking about it, though."

"Shame," May says. "Zoey is a real class act. She beat me to win her second Grand Festival title in the Orre region, you know? I think you should at least give it a shot, 'cause win, lose, or draw, you'll have found something far more important than winning this tournament. You'll have found love, which I'd put high above any trophy on my priorities list." May then brings out her right hand. "Good luck to you, Dawn." May then takes a good look at Zoey. "Here and beyond."

Dawn brings her hand out not that long afterward. "Same to you May." Both ladies shake hands and go to their respective corners, which causes yet another large crowd reaction. There is no more waiting and no more speculating. The finals are here and now.

"Let the finals of the Kanto Grand Festival... begin!" Meridian booms.

"Blaziken, come on out!" And as Max and most others expect, May pulls out her signature and starter Pokémon, Blaziken. Dawn is somewhat jolted, but knows that she must counteract the fire Pokémon as best as she can. She knows of only one solution.

"Empoleon, spotlight!" There would be no surprises today, as both girls use the most powerful Pokémon in either one's arsenal. Zoey is keeping her fingers crossed, and saying a silent prayer for her hopefully soon to be girlfriend. Max's attention is 100 percent fixated on the battle that is about to occur. His mouth is wide open, and surprisingly, he is not saying a word.

A horn blares, signaling that the five minute clock is counting down, and the battling must now commence.

"Blaziken!" May commands, "let's start out with a double kick to Empoleon!"

"Empoleon, dodge that double kick, and counter with a tackle!" Dawn says quickly in response.

The command by Dawn was effective as it was being executed as May's Blaziken was in mid-air, and unable to change direction. Calling it out when she did combined with Empoleon's response which was quicker than a lightning bolt was the reason why Blaziken was now at 80 percent hit points.

"May's desire to hit a big move quickly costs her a lot early in this bout, as Dawn was able to react well on her feet to the potential double kick from May Maple's Blaziken." Meridian commentates.

"That's it, Dawn!" Zoey cheers. "Keep it up, girl!"

"Dawn's not out of the woods yet, Zoey," yells a still confident Max.

"All right Blaziken," May says, unfazed that she lost so many hit points. "We'll try something different. Fly, but go high up in the air!"

'What does Maple have up her sleeve?' Dawn silently ponders. "Empoleon, stand your guard and keep a look out for our fine feathered friend."

'Just what I expected; she didn't attack.' May smiles and then commands, "Blaziken, come back down on Empoleon with a dose of his own medicine using Mirror Move, now!"

'Fuck! I forgot Blaziken could do that!' Dawn gets flustered by May's wise maneuver to have Blaziken tackle Empoleon. "Uh... Empoleon, dodge and use bubblebeam!"

It turns out that that split second of hesitation on Dawn's part was enough for Blaziken to successfully mirror the move Empoleon had just performed on it. Empoleon was not even able to dodge the tackle as the quicker Blaziken led with its left shoulder and drove Empoleon to the ground. Dawn's hit points took a huge dive, much larger than May's as Meridian explains...

"Remember, folks! Even though Blaziken used the exact same attack with the exact same power that Empoleon did, Blaziken came back down to the arena floor, and left a trail, almost as if it was a shooting star, and gracefully tackled Empoleon, leaving Dawn down to a humbling 65 percent hit points, with nearly three minutes remaining."

"Fucking awesome move, May!" Max congratulates.

"Cool it!" May scolds. "We're on the air!"

"Come on, Dawn! You've still got a chance! I have faith in you! Think!" Zoey pleads.

'What to do, what to do?' Dawn is down, though not out. But if she cannot recover with a big attack, she will not hoist this year's Kanto Grand Festival trophy.

"Empoleon, shake it off, jump on Blaziken's back and use multiple peck attacks!"

"Pecks, Dawn?" May openly asks confused. "You're trying to beat me with pecks?"

"Don't get cocky, May!" Max warns.

May turns to Max and yells, "Shut the fuck up, asswipe! I know what I'm doing!" Her attention diverted, Blaziken does not attempt to counter this attack. When May turns around, she sees Empoleon on Blaziken's back, pecking away.

"Keep pecking, Empoleon! Do not stop!" Dawn commands. "I repeat; do not stop!"

'This could work if Dawn's got something behind it' Zoey thinks, 'If she has some purpose beyond a mere pecking order, she could take the lead. Please let her get this.'

"Blaziken, hang in there! A bunch of pecks aren't gonna do much damage. Let's see how long Empoleon can keep this up" May orders. Blaziken takes the next thirty seconds or so standing arched as the weight of Empoleon makes it difficult for the fire Pokémon to stand upright. May is now screaming at Blaziken to hang on as long as it can.

Dawn's strategy is slowly but surely working. Though she knows that multiple pecks do not do significant damage to Blaziken, Meridian reminds the crowd that it is how you execute attacks and how they look and appeal to the crowd, which for the most part is cheering and on their collective feet.

"And as the folks at home can hear, the pecks by Empoleon to Blaziken are really riling up this Viridian City crowd." After a while where most other trainers would have tried another attack, Dawn's Empoleon has not let up. It continues to peck at Blaziken's neck for over 45 seconds. "Folks, I have never seen this type of attacking in all my years of announcing! This Empoleon is obviously well conditioned to the point where it has gone nearly a minute pecking at its competition, and it shows, as May's hit point total is now down to 60 percent with about 90 seconds to go!"

'Okay. We can't do this for too much longer. I'm losing now.' May quickly ponders. "Blaziken, spin and use ember!"

"Empoleon, get off of Blaziken, and stay as far away as you can for now!" Even though Blaziken did very little to no damage to Empoleon, the fire show from the spinning Blaziken combined with Empoleon appearing to the judges to be thrown off Blaziken caused Dawn's hit point total to be almost evened up with May.

Dawn knows that Empoleon did not fall due to an attack, but is not fazed by her point total going down. 'Oh well. We can't worry about that. How much time is left?' Dawn checks the clock and sees that there is a little less than a minute left on the clock. In her mind, it would be best to go for a big hit, and avoid any attacks from Blaziken by continuing to dodge and counterattack.

"Okay, Empoleon." Dawn regroups. "Use whirlpool on Blaziken and keep that whirlpool going!"

'That's not a very strong attack to use this late in the bout' Zoey thinks.

'What's Dawn thinking using whirlpool right now?' Max ponders.

May doesn't miss a single beat, and is not flustered by Dawn's use of whirlpool. "Blaziken, dodge whirlpool by flying back up into the sky." 'Wait for Empoleon to stop, May' she says to herself.

'Perfect! This Grand Festival title is mine. May thinks I'm gonna let up on this whirlpool' Dawn thinks to herself, smiling. This action does not go unnoticed by Zoey.

'She's got something up her sleeve. God, this is exciting! She could win if she plays her cards right!' Zoey is on the edge of her seat to say the least. "Come on, Dawn! You can do it!" Zoey yells.

"All right, Empoleon. This is the break that we need! Use Hydro Pump on Blaziken!"

Max hears this command, and is concerned. The hit points for both trainers are about even, and from his vantage point, it is hard to tell which trainer is in the lead. He is concerned that May will try and eat up clock and play defense for the rest of the battle. 'May? Think about points 'cause you might be behind!' Max yells out in his mind, trying hard not to scream out in frustration. 'Don't dodge the hydro pump, May. Attack! For the love of Jesus; attack, May!'

"Blaziken," May says, knowing that when she calls this out, with less than 30 seconds remaining, it may end her chances of winning the Grand Festival, while at the same time trying to thwart Dawn and Empoleon's chances. "Use Flare Blitz, now!"

'This could be it' Zoey ponders. 'But is Empoleon's hydro pump strong enough to hinder Blaziken's best fire attack?'

Max is crossing his fingers, in anticipation of a collision between Empoleon and Blaziken. Blaziken wraps itself with flames and charges head first for Empoleon, not even once considering that it must pass a long tube of water flowing in its direction.

Blaziken literally blazes through the tube of water, leaving behind it a large amount of steam, as it hits Empoleon square in the sternum. The steam clouds the vision of everyone in the arena for several seconds, but when it finally clears, both Pokémon are seen down on the ground, clearly fatigued in this very grueling match. Neither is in position to attack.

Blaziken took some serious damage just going through the trail of water to execute Flare Blitz, and Empoleon once again felt the power, speed and strength of Blaziken in that final blow. The horn blares once more to signify the end of the bout. Both girls hit points took a tremendous dive due to that final sequence, but it is still too close to call a winner, as both appear to be at about 10 hit points.

"Folks," Lillian says, "the horn has blared, and this match is over! Both Pokémon gave it 110 percent so that their respective trainers could hoist the Grand Festival trophy high into the air! The only problem is we can not seem to determine who the winner was. The match was just too close to call. The judges are consulting with each other on this issue as we speak, and hopefully we can determine your 2012 Kanto Grand Festival Champion very soon!"

"Blaziken/Empoleon?" Both trainers call out in unison, "Return!" and both put their Pokémon back into their pokeballs.

* * *

A/N: And the winner is... to be revealed in the next chapter! But wait! Actually, don't, 'cause the chapter is ready! Go ahead and read it right now!


	4. What Zoey Wants

A Confession Gone Awry

The finals of the 2012 Kanto Grand Festival have ended, and the winner is... still to be determined. After a long hard fought battle between May Maple and Dawn Berlitz with Blaziken and Empoleon, respectively, the total of hit points of both coordinators remained the same. The five judges (Suziko, Contesta, (Viridian) Joy, (Viridian) Jenny and Gary Oak) are currently in consultation, trying to determine who the winner is. There is more tension here than if the Super Bowl came down to a final disputed play. Who will win? I promise you will find out in this chapter!

NOTE: I have a new name to add to the list of full names for this story's canon.

Andrew Dana "Drew" Roderick

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 4- What Zoey Wants)

* * *

Zoey is wide mouthed, as she can not believe that after that grueling battle, there was still no winner. She asks an official if she can go up to the ring, and the official gave her the green light. Upon seeing that Zoey is on the ring floor with Dawn, Max does not bother asking anyone; rather he takes the liberty of going to talk to his sister while she is on stage after battling.

"What happened, Dawn?" Zoey asks, confused.

"I don't know," Dawn admits. "They're saying that it's too close to call."

"Well," Zoey says, trying to be funny in light of the activity, "I hope we don't have to wait 36 days to find out who won _this_ one." Dawn laughs as she sees all five judges conversing in a circle and May and Max talking about the battle.

"You just had to be a goddamn backseat battler, didn't you, Max?" May asks Max with her hands on her hips. "You had to get into it just a little too much. You know mom and dad are gonna ream you in the ass for cursing like that."

"You have no moral ground to stand on, big sister," Max retorts with a sly smile. "'cause you did it, too."

"You... frustrated... me," May defends. "I thought you wanted me to win."

"But I do!" Max swears. "Why else would I come here for the sixth time? It's certainly not because I wanna be a coordinator!"

* * *

"Zoey?" Dawn says, while turning her attention away from the judges, May and Max.

"Yeah, Dawn?" Zoey asks, but before she can complete her question, she is hugged by Dawn.

"Thanks for all of your help and encouragement," Dawn says above a whisper. "You're a true friend." Zoey gets more and more confident that Dawn will be her girlfriend by the second.

"Hey!" a heckler in the crowd screams. "Why don't you two dykes get a room and stop ruining my good time? My home town girl May Maple is about to win this thing!" Zoey turns in time to see this man sit down.

"Fuck off, idiot!" she screams, giving him the finger. "If you don't like it, then that's too fucking bad, but you're not gonna be an ass about it and not expect me to react like this!"

"Zoey," Dawn says calmly, "Calm down. Don't worry about him. He's not worth your trouble."

"Dawn? I'm not gonna have that asshole or any other clowns like him insult me or you and not take a fucking stand! Security?"

"Yes, Miss Neale?" A Kanto region security guard who was occupied with guarding the judges comes up to Dawn and Zoey.

Zoey points in the direction of the crowd. "The guy there in the black shirt and the Petalburg City gym cap insulted and heckled me and my girl-- I mean, me and my friend here."

"In what way, Miss," he asks, now interested in what Zoey has to say.

"He... he called us both 'dykes', and we were offended. We shouldn't have to take that crap, sir."

The guard heard the tone of Zoey D. Neale's voice and knew that she would not take anything less than that heckler being thrown out of the arena. "You got it, Zoey. He's as good as gone."

"Thank you, sir," Zoey then turns her attention to Dawn. "He won't bother us again."

"How often has that happened to you, Zoey?" Dawn asks, as her curiosity is peaked.

"Well…" Zoey finds it hard to tell Dawn the truth.

"Answer me, Zoey. How often do people call you a dyke, or butch, or a lesbo, or anything like that at contests?" Dawn wants to know, badly.

"This has been happening at several contests and Grand Festivals I've been a part of since I was about 12 years old."

"What the fuck? Twelve?" Dawn asks astonished. Zoey sadly nods her head. "You've had to deal with that since you were 12 years old? Why? Why didn't you speak out about this?"

"Calm down, Dawn," Zoey says, with the tables now turned as she attempts to tame the fire in the eyes of her friend. "I didn't know that I was gay until about a year later, and even now, only a select few know this. You, of course, then there's my parents and someone else..." Zoey turns from Dawn's gaze to look at May Maple, who is now at the point of nearly coming to fisticuffs with her younger brother. Dawn sees this, and can tell that this wouldn't be something she would share with Max at a time when he would have only been 11 years old.

"May?" Dawn figures out. "May knows that you're a lesbian?"

"Yeah," Zoey punctuates. "Believe it or not, May was..." Zoey takes a deep breath. "My first girlfriend."

Dawn gasps. Based on their earlier conversation, she wonders among other things if May ever 'experimented' with and took advantage of Zoey when she was young and impressionable. Dawn balls her right hand into a fist. "Did she ever do anything or try anything with you? If she did, she won't be able to find out the results of this battle in person; she'll find out in a hospital bed!"

"Dawn, please just let me explain," Zoey assures Dawn. "It lasted about three... maybe four months tops. She was 15 going on 16, and I was just a tender and scared 13-year old, trying to figure out my feelings. It was a... Friday night, I was at a hangout for gay and lesbian teens in Lilycove City in the Hoenn region. And, like I said, I was very curious. Being gay and what it meant to be gay was completely foreign to me. So I struck up this conversation with a girl, who quite honestly, I couldn't remember in a two person lineup, and... She introduced me to May."

"Now, I had seen May in contests and Grand Festivals in the past. I had not met her until that night, though. To see her in this niche environment was... a surprise. Everyone knows about May Maple and Drew Roderick: The super couple of Pokémon coordinating, but here is May in a hangout for gays! So the first two questions that I ask her, obviously are, 'Are you gay?', and 'Is your relationship with Drew real?'"

"And what did she say if anything?"

"All right," Zoey prepares herself by looking over at May and Max once more. They appear to look like they're ready to tear each other's heads off their bodies. 'She's occupied. She won't know that I told Dawn,' Zoey then turns back over to Dawn's glare.

"You promise to keep this secret?" Zoey seriously asks.

"Yeah. So what did she say?"

"May is... bisexual," Zoey reveals, as if she was telling Dawn the super secret meaning of life. "And... even though she has been on and off with Drew over the years, she continues to date and even have sex with girls her age while she's with Drew. There's no way to sugarcoat it. She's been cheating on him, and has never truly been faithful to him, ever. It's sad. Drew is a sweetheart, and doesn't deserve it, but like I've told her, I'll leave the issue of you telling Drew the truth up to you, May."

"May has told me that she has these conflicted feelings. On some days, she wants to have a long term relationship with Drew and she does love him, and on other days, she thinks that they would be better just being friends. But May has also told me that nothing can match the intimacy that two women can share in a conversation, or when they make love, and she doesn't wanna give that up. She's tried many times, but it hasn't worked."

'God, if she finds out I told someone that, she'll fucking kill me.' Zoey mulls.

Dawn is scared out of her mind to ask this question, but finally musters the courage. "Did May ever... have sex with you?"

"Never. In fact, I'm still a virgin," Zoey says plain and simple. Zoey gently holds Dawn by the shoulders. "You were always my first love, and I told May this when we first got together, but I spent the time with May because she had been down my road and knew some of the things that I'd be feeling. To be honest, May wasn't as much a girlfriend to me as she was a mentor. The closest that we've ever gotten was some weird hybrid between second and third base. I've seen her naked before. She is a machine! She works out about four hours a day, you know? I believe her when she said she once went six straight hours with one of her squeezes. She's got a body for endurance, among other things."

"Okay. I don't need to hear the rest of that story," Dawn interjects, trying not to laugh. "Thank you for being honest with me. May actually told me that she had been experimenting since she was younger before our battle, and... I had no idea that you two were an item-- sort of. I also didn't know that she knew that you loved me for so many years. I thought it was only because someone told her the interview or she saw it like everyone else. So what caused the breakup?"

"We each were absolutely sure of the loves of each of our lives," Zoey smiles to Dawn. "I knew for sure that I was a lesbian and I told her, and said being in this relationship another minute will keep me from a chance with Dawn. I told her that I had a great time, but I need to tell my true love how I feel. She had Drew, but she also told me that she found this girl who's doing pretty well for herself in the pokeblock business, and if I recall correctly from the last time that we spoke, she's still in a sexual relationship with this girl. And that's how we broke up."

"Damn, that's deep. Do you know who May's... sexual partner on the side is?"

"Well, she really doesn't want people to know about her," Zoey explains. "All I know is that she lives in Lilycove City where she has this successful pokeblock business. And the only other detail May will tell me is that she's a millionaire because of her business, and she doesn't want to risk any bad publicity from her affair for her or her girlfriend."

"What did your parents think of you being gay?" Dawn asks, curious that if she ever did decide, what tips Zoey had for coming out to your parents if such an action was necessary.

"Initially, they freaked." Zoey fesses up to this occurrence. "But after a long-- I mean LONG talk with my mom and dad, we came to a much better understanding, and they're fine with me being gay. They know that it's not their decision, but my decision, but I don't know how fine they will be about me coming out to a worldwide audience, but I can't worry about that right now." Zoey then looks over to the judge's tables. They are still in consultation, after what seems like several minutes of back and forth deliberation.

"Looks like they're still trying to figure out who won this match. I think they're going over film, now" Zoey sees that the five judges are now gathered around a television monitor.

"I've got just one final question, Zoey" Dawn tells her friend. "I think I asked this before. Why didn't you tell people that this was happening? Why didn't you come out and stop people from saying those awful things?"

"Because… I didn't want the unwanted attention from coming out. I even told my parents about it, and they said to just tell security that this is happening, and they'll take care of things. You have to consider my age and my attitude, and looking back, I'm surprised it took me so long to figure it out. And Dawn, could you imagine the pressure for me, growing up in the public eye and having the stigma of being openly gay attached to that?"

Dawn could never understand what Zoey had to go through, but nevertheless, she respected the dignity and the class that she carried herself with in that trying time in her life. In Dawn's mind, Zoey was very brave; not only to admit that she was a lesbian at the age of 13 to her parents, but to not waiver in the face of adversity from hecklers for over four years. For the second time in this conversation, the two hug each other, with Dawn telling Zoey that she is a very brave girl, and anybody would be honored to have her as a girlfriend.

"But I don't want just anybody for a girlfriend," Zoey says in all honesty. "I want you as my girlfriend and my partner."

"We'll see, Zoey" Dawn assures. "I have to sort something out before I can say yes. You have to know as well as anyone that this is a serious step for me, and for me to say yes to this is not something I can go about cavalierly."

"I understand," Zoey says, kissing Dawn on her forehead. "And I wouldn't want you to feel like you were forced to tell me something you aren't ready to tell me. I just want you to know that I cherish the moments we share and spend together as friends, and that won't stop if we decide to be girlfriends."

"Me too," Dawn whispers.

"Excuse me, you two," Lillian Meridian says to Dawn and Zoey. "I just informed May and Max. The judges have made their decision, and they want you in the center of the ring."

"Moment of truth," Dawn says to no one in particular.

"You'll be fine," Zoey tells Dawn. The twosome goes over to a Pokémon Grand Festival official, along with May and Max as they await the announcement from Lillian Meridian.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Lillian says, as she gets the cue from the director, "I understand that the judges have reached a conclusive decision on the results of this Grand Festival Final, is that correct, Contesta?"

"That is indeed correct, Meridian," as Contesta pulls out a large manilla envelope with a seal. "And the results of the final are right here." Lillian takes the envelope from Contesta, and breaks the seal, being only the sixth person to know the newest Grand Festival champion.

"And ladies and gentlemen," Lillian draws out in her speech. "It was extremely close. The closest final in over 20 years, but the winner of the 2012 Kanto Grand Festival, which will be either one's maiden Grand Festival championship, is…"

'Lillian must have graduated from the Ryan Seacrest School of building anticipation,' Zoey thinks to herself, as the audience has been clamoring for nearly 15 seconds to hear who the winner of the Kanto Grand Festival.

"May… Maple!"

The decision was a shock to many, as they felt that the contest was just to close to call, but the judges had determined a winner, and the winner was Georgia Caroline "May" Maple of Petalburg City. May was brought to tears in light of the decision, and the first thing she did was hug her brother, and cry into his shirt. The wait was over. After all the heartaches, and silver medals, red ribbons, second bananas and stints as a Maid of Honor, the stage finally belonged to her and only to her. May Maple has finally—_finally_ won a Grand Festival!

Just a few seconds later, she was joined onstage by her longtime boyfriend Drew Roderick, and he gave her a tabloid friendly kiss while she was still bawling her eyes out. May knew in her heart that she had never been faithful to him, and seeing how much love and compassion that he truly had for her just made her cry even more.

May is a coward, and she'll be the first to tell you that she's a coward, primarily for not having the heart to tell Drew that she has been having affairs. May tries to get her situation with Drew out of her mind quickly, and she does so by looking towards the runner up Dawn and her corner person, Zoey, and can't exactly determine what either young lady is thinking knowing that Dawn came this far, but did not win the ultimate prize… or will her ultimate reward come later?

* * *

"Dawn?" Zoey asks, wanting to know what her friend was thinking after finding out that she lost. Dawn has not moved or talked since hearing the name 'May Maple' and not 'Dawn Berlitz' come out of Lillian's mouth. "Are you okay?"

"I… lost," Dawn says in a faraway manner.

"No, Dawn. Please don't do this to yourself," Zoey pleads from Dawn while touching her shoulder as her voice starts to break in the middle.

"I lost. I came this far… and I lost," Dawn then runs from the stage, and back to the tunnel entranceway, with tears clouding her vision.

"Dawn, no!" Zoey yells out. "Goddamn it!" she yells again. Zoey then chases after Dawn. May sees this, and starts to get herself back together in time for the trophy presentation in just a few minutes.

* * *

"Dawn?" Zoey calls out after going back through the tunnel entranceway where Dawn ran to. "Where did you go? Dawn? Let's talk about this! Please, I wanna talk about this!" Zoey looks through locker rooms and other areas to find her, and finally, she comes across an open janitor's closet, and hears a girl crying inside. Looking inside, she sees Dawn on the ground and in the dark.

"Dawn?" Zoey greets.

"Go away, Zoey." Dawn says while her voice is shaking, and she is still crying. "I failed. I couldn't do it."

"I'd never leave someone I love like this Dawn." Zoey says.

"What the hell would you want from me, Zoey?" Dawn blubbers. "How could you love a failure?"

"Bite your tongue," Zoey says with some coldness behind her voice. "You didn't fail. You did something that nobody, and damn it, I mean _nobody_ has ever done; you beat four Grand Festival champions, Dawn. You beat four of them, including me, in one day. Nobody has ever done that. You're not a failure, Dawn." Zoey then comes down to Dawn's level. "You did a fantastic job, today. I'd put this performance up against any performance of any Grand Festival champion, including May. Did you… did you try to impress me or Johanna or someone else tonight?"

Dawn shakes her head. "No, but what difference does it make? I didn't win the Grand Festival!" At this point, Dawn is in hysterics. "I lost, Zoey!"

"Dawn, stop it! I fucking mean it! Just stop! Don't do this to yourself!" Zoey screams, as she forcibly brought Dawn's chin and face to her direction. Zoey's tough love doesn't seem to help, and Dawn is in tears once again.

"Look," Zoey says, depressed because Dawn is depressed. "I'm sorry for being rough on you, but you know as well as I know; this isn't you, Dawn. You'd bounce back quicker than a super ball from something like this. It's… breaking my heart seeing you like this, because I know you're better than this. I love you, Dawn, but this isn't the Dawn I know."

"The Dawn I know makes me laugh. She's sweet, caring, kind, understanding, and a bit on the arrogant side, but that's what makes you Dawn Berlitz. She understood when I told her that I loved her, and she understood when I told her about my past relationship with May Maple. But I look into your eyes, and… I don't even think I know who you are." Zoey is now crying.

"If you're in there, Dawn I want you to know that this person will eat away at you, if you let it. If I can help it, I won't let depression eat you up inside." Zoey sniffles. "I just love you too damn much, Dawn, and someone that has those feelings for you just wouldn't sit back and allow that to happen. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here, and I'll listen if you want to talk about this."

Dawn sees the raw emotion in Zoey's eyes. Both girls had been crying tears of sadness. Dawn was crying because after a long, hard-fought day of battling, she had built up a mountain of confidence only to see it fall in a heap of rubble when she lost a close match to May. Zoey was crying because she believed that she had lost the Dawn that she had grown to love after having the wind under her sails taken away from her.

'She really does love me,' Dawn thinks to herself. 'I was hesitant to say yes to be her girlfriend because I thought it was just lust that she had. I thought that I would have another rehash of a relationship with Paul or… even worse than Paul. But she really truly loves me. She reached out to help me when she knew I was in trouble, and I really am thankful for that.' Dawn knows what she has to do.

"Zoey?"

"Yeah, Dawn?" Zoey says, now calmed from her recent bout of tears.

"Thank you for helping me realize that this wasn't me" Dawn softly speaks. "I just… lost it when I heard May won. Thank you for bringing me back." Dawn once again hugs her friend. Then, she says the thing that she had been kicking herself about since Zoey made her confession. "I love you, Zoey."

Zoey sadly smiles, not understanding what Dawn just admitted to her. "I know you love me as a friend, Dawn. But with all due respect, and I don't mean to be selfish when I say this, that's not what I want."

"Then what do you want?" Dawn interjects with a sly smile.

"You know what I want, Dawn." Zoey says, still smiling, but hers is much more sincere. "I want you to be my girlfriend. I don't know of any other way to say it. I wanna brag about you like that song from the Gym Class Heroes. I want to bring you to my parents so they can say to you personally, 'welcome to our family.' I want to argue about what movie we'll watch on a Friday night, whether it's a romantic comedy or action/adventure."

Zoey continues, as they both get up from the ground. "I want to take you out to eat most nights on me. I wanna do all the things that lovers do." Now Zoey holds Dawn's hands and looks her square in the eyes. "And I wanna give you the world… if you just give me a chance. Let me be your girlfriend, Dawn. Let me wipe your tears away, and hold you when your sad, and tell you you're beautiful when the world says otherwise. Like I told you, they'd never understand our love, but who said love had to be explained? Let me tell you all of my most intimate secrets that no one in the whole universe knows of. Let me be a listener when you wanna talk. I can be all of these things, Dawn, but all I ask for in return is a chance. So I ask you this in all sincerity and with all of my heart behind it;" Zoey takes a deep breath. "Dawn Berlitz, will you be my girlfriend?"

Dawn's opinion of Zoey's love for her and vice versa has now been confirmed. Someone who loves her as much as Zoey says (and has proven) would not be someone that Dawn would just say no to without much evidence. Dawn thought to herself when Zoey kissed her earlier that all it would take for her to take Zoey up on her offer to be her girlfriend was a sign. A sign that showed that Zoey truly loved and cared for Dawn, and helping her when she was at her most despondent point after losing the Grand Festival was more than enough of a sign.

"Yes, Zoey. I'll be your girlfriend." Dawn smiles like her life depended on it.

"You mean it? You really mean it?" Zoey asks, to the point of a major case of the waterworks developing in her eyes. Dawn gives Zoey a kiss, similar to their very first one. The only difference being that the tables were turned as this time; it completely caught Zoey off guard. So much so, that she fell to the ground and took Dawn with her.

The newfound lovers were now kissing in a dark janitor's closet floor, currently in the aforementioned activity for over thirty seconds, with neither party showing any signs of slowing down. The lowbrow area did not bother either party, as both had been driven to the emotional brink of their desires for each other, and letting these emotions out became better than personal therapy from a who's who of the world's best psychologists. Finally, Dawn lets go of Zoey, as both take time to catch their respective breaths, and simply says to her "Does that answer your question, Zoey?"

"Uhh…" Zoey answers playfully. "I don't know. Could you do that again?" Dawn lightly pushes her.

"Will you stop it?" Dawn says, laughing at her new girlfriend's quasi-desperate attempt to get her to kiss her once again. "You know, I was right about something."

"What's that Dawn?" Zoey asks as they both get back up on their feet.

Dawn gives Zoey a quick kiss on the lips. "Even though we've only been official for a couple of minutes, I think you make an incredible girlfriend." Dawn then ponders what she just said. "Zoey D. Neale is my girlfriend. I like the sound of that."

"Believe me, Dawn" Zoey assures, "no one loves the sound of it better than I do. Come on, Dawn. Let's go celebrate with May."

Dawn, although disappointed that she came so far and lost, is all right now to celebrate May's victory for two related reasons; one is that she's had time to think about it, and Zoey was right that Dawn should be proud to have gotten as far as she did and come so close. And the second reason is that Zoey has given her a great amount of confidence by helping her get out of her funk and realize who she is and what she has represented in terms of attitude and how to carry yourself. It was all a matter of Zoey helping Dawn come back to her senses, and that is why the two new lovers are walking hand in hand back to the arena floor to watch May get presented with the Grand Festival Trophy.

* * *

"On behalf of the Kanto Grand Festival," Contesta states at the trophy presentation, "we present to you Miss May Maple of Petalburg City the 2012 Kanto Grand Festival championship trophy, representative of your incredible accomplishments this year in the Kanto region. Take it. It's yours. Congratulations!" May holds the large trophy, which weighs almost 30 pounds high above her head, as the flashbulbs of cameras flash en masse. After a few seconds, May puts the trophy down on the ground because she felt something warm on the side of her face. It was Drew, who gave a kiss to his girlfriend while she held her trophy.

"What was that for?" May asks, humbled to receive a kiss from Drew at this moment.

"Nothing, other than I've always wanted to kiss a Grand Festival Champion." Drew honestly answers with a toothy smile.

"How sweet," May says, though her enthusiasm is somewhat deflated at Drew's cordialness towards her. 'God, why does he have to be so nice, and why am I so cruel to him? He certainly doesn't deserve it.'

"So what did you and Dawn talk about before the match?" Drew asks, legitimately curious. May is not sure how to answer the question, until she sees Dawn and Zoey come back to ringside, hand in hand.

Though she cannot confirm it, she suspects that based on the body language of the younger girls, that Zoey and Dawn are now an item. To this, she smiles, as she knows more than almost anyone the feelings that Zoey has had for the Twinleaf Town native for many years.

"May?" Drew asks to get the attention of the taller girl. "I asked you a question."

"Oh!" May says in exaggerated surprise. "We just talked about… girl stuff, you know?"

* * *

A/N: We're far from over folks! As you could tell from chapter three, the battle was not without controversy, and this controversy does not go unnoticed by a certain individual. Who is it? Find out in chapter five! Also, can you tell who May is involved with behind Drew's back? And what will the aftermath of Dawn and Zoey's onscreen kiss entail for the new couple in the near future?

The answers to (some of) these questions and more will be revealed in the next chapter of 'A Confession Gone Awry'!


	5. Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Dragster

A Confession Gone Awry

It may have taken some time, but May Maple was declared the winner of the Kanto Grand Festival. She celebrated with her brother Max and boyfriend Drew. Drew's cordialness to May makes her very depressed, as she has not been faithful to Drew throughout much of their relationship. Dawn and Zoey talk about how Zoey confirmed her feelings of being gay with help from May, who was Zoey's girlfriend/mentor when Zoey was only 13. May is bisexual herself; a secret that very few people outside of Zoey, Dawn and her lover from Lilycove City know about.

After the shock of finding out that she lost the Grand Festival by such a slim margin, Dawn was inconsolable, running from the stage and crying out her frustrations in a janitor's closet. Zoey found her, and helped her realize that she did a great job just making it to the finals, and should be proud nevertheless. Dawn had told herself that when she found a sign that Zoey truly loved and cared for her, she would return her feelings in kind. The result of this is that Zoey Domenica Neale and Shannon Dawn Berlitz are now an official couple.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 5- Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Dragster)

* * *

"Well, it certainly wasn't without its controversy, excitement and edge-on-your-seat action packed into five good minutes," Tim Newsome begins, in a wrap-up of the final for the 11 p.m. sports newscasts. "…but there is no discounting the fact that both May Maple and Dawn Berlitz put every single ounce of their past experience in Grand Festivals and Pokémon contests to work in today's battle."

"Oh, no doubt about it, Tim," Danica Torres adds. "There was certainly no surprise in the Pokémon that were used; May using her Blaziken and Dawn using her Empoleon, but the real surprises had to do with each coordinator's unique strategy. Dawn had the type advantage with Empoleon being a water type and Blaziken being a fire type, but she never really took advantage of that. She seemed to be more content with using Empoleon's type advantage attacks like whirlpool to fool May, and not necessarily bring her point totals down."

The film now cuts to a shot of May near the Grand Festival trophy with a headset on. It was taped earlier that day as May gave her post match thoughts to Ash, Tim, and Danica. An on-screen graphic at the bottom has the words 'May Maple- 2012 Kanto Grand Festival Champion' "I was surprised. I thought that Blaziken would have had to contend with doing a lot of bobbing and weaving from every single water attack in the books," May admits. "Dawn certainly was trying to go for the trap in the early and middle portions using counters and minor attacks en masse, and then she finally went for the kill in the end using her most powerful water attack."

"So you thought that the match would have been based more on the type match up then it turned out to be?" Tim confirms.

"Yes. And I'll take nothing away from Dawn in this instance," May explains, "but had she gone for the jugular in this instance and attempted a lot of water attacks, she might've won. I don't know… if she thought Blaziken was of just that high of a level of ability or not, but it was an interesting strategy that almost paid off. I just think that if I had that advantage, I would not hesitate to exploit it."

Now, the film cuts to Dawn, who has Zoey right next to her, with the same type of headset on and talking to the hosts of the Grand Festival telecast. An on-screen graphic at the bottom says, 'Dawn Berlitz- 2012 Kanto Grand Festival Runner Up'. "May is only somewhat right," Dawn tells the host. "I wanted to build to a large water attack, but I did use bubble beam in the match, and I also used whirlpool."

"Okay, but Dawn," Tim interjects, "let's be honest, here. The bubble beam was used in a hasty response to a very well thought out mirror move by May, and the whirlpool—you had no intention of using that whirlpool as an attack to bring Blaziken's hit points down. That was only used for you to transition to hydro pump with less than thirty seconds left in the whole match, and…"

"But Tim? Tim? Timmy?" Dawn says, trying to get her two cents in. "The tackle, over a minute of pecking at Blaziken's back, and a hydro pump were my three most effective moves in the match. If I went out there with the intention of using nothing but water, May would have easily planned against this at some point in the match, and my strategy would have been all for naught. So… I can't seem to please the people that said I should have used my type advantage better than I did, and I can't please people when I use these attacks where I have the advantage in a different fashion as a means of throwing my opponent off guard."

The film goes back live with Danica, who speaks after a two second delay. "Dawn would go on to say that May's Blaziken essentially used fire only twice in the battle; one was a spinning ember attack to get Empoleon off its back, and the other was the flare blitz attack in the final sequence of attacks in the match up."

"Well, guys," Ash Ketchum defends, "forgive me if I don't appear to be too cordial to May winning. I…may very well catch flak for some of the things I'm about to say, but I feel that they need to be said. This doesn't take anything from May's performance tonight, because it was stellar, but looking at the film of the match countless times after seeing it live, I'm willing to bet the farm that May Maple did not win this match tonight."

Ash continues, while the screen shows the scene right before Empoleon is about to get off of Blaziken's back, saying. "After Dawn's Empoleon stopped pecking at Blaziken's back, the hit points were about 65-60 in favor of Dawn. Then May commanded Blaziken to spin out and use ember to get Empoleon off its back. But, Dawn also commanded Empoleon to get off Blaziken's back. This happened, I believe, before ember could have had any affect on Empoleon, but the judges took hit points off of Empoleon anyway, bringing the count to an even 60-60."

"The final score of the battle was 10-8 in favor of May, but the rules state that if a battle has an end deficit of three points or less, the judges must review the film once more and come to a conclusive decision. But I think that the judges must have missed Empoleon jumping off Blaziken, and not being propelled off by the spinning ember. Had they seen that, the score I have would have been 13-10 in favor of Dawn."

"I'm not… trying to take anything away from May in this instance, but all of the judges are still here. And I think it wouldn't hurt for them to at least take a look at the footage from the entire battle a few more times, and make absolutely sure that the right decision was made today, because I think that Dawn actually was the winner here tonight."

"Well," Tim wraps up, "the results of this final will not be _made_ final for another three days or so, so with the close results, just to be absolutely sure, I'd go back and check, although I disagree with Ash, and I think that May won this battle this evening. It certainly was an eventful Grand Festival, unlike any other we've seen in recent memory. For Ash Ketchum and Danica Torres, this is Tim Newsome, saying so long from the Indigo Plateau!"

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please," yells Drew, as Dawn, Zoey, Max, and May and various others are gathered at a local restaurant to celebrate. "I'd like to propose a toast. And it goes to the new Kanto Grand Festival champion," Drew is starting to get choked up, "and the best girlfriend that a guy could ever ask for; May Maple."

Everyone brings up their glasses filled with various sodas, milkshakes, and floats of each ones favorite and brings them together with a call of 'here, here', as they agree to doing the toast. Everyone brought up their glasses, with the exception of May, who had her head down in her hands and was softly crying.

"Thank you, Drew," May said with some difficulty. "You really shouldn't have."

"Baby," Drew retorts, kissing May on her cheek, "I wanted to. You've brought me such joy in my life. The least I could do is recognize it and tell the world how happy you've made me, and how proud I am of all you've done in your career."

This confession only makes May cry even more. "You're so good to me, Drew." 'Someone has to be in this farce of a relationship,' May thinks. May's actions do not go unnoticed by a certain redhead from just across the table. After May has calmed down somewhat, Zoey gets her girlfriend's attention and points her to the scene with May and Drew.

"Look at that," Zoey says, at almost a whisper. "She can't even look at Drew without breaking down into tears, Dawn. I can't take much more of this shit." Zoey stands up.

"May? Could I talk to you in private, please?" May looks up and sees Zoey, but also sees her 'look'; the type of look that she gives to someone when she has something on her mind that she'd like to get out, no questions asked.

May, knowing Zoey almost inside and out for over three years knows that Zoey will not take no for an answer, and goes with her, to where everyone else presumes is the restroom.

"Hey Max," Drew says, wanting to start a conversation with somebody, "do you have any idea why women always go to the restroom together?"

"Damned if I know, Drew. Why the fuck are you asking me, a guy, for? Who do I look like to you, Mel Gibson?" Max scoffs at himself. "Like I know what women really want."

* * *

"May?" Zoey asks astounded at May's listlessness, "You know I care about you a great deal. We were girlfriends about three years ago. What the fuck are you doing to yourself? This is ludicrous! You've been cheating on someone who truly loves you, cares for you, hell; he'd give his goddamn life for you, May, and you know this! You fucking know this, and you still cheat on him! All I want to know is why? You've never explained why you go back to… these lesbian affairs."

May and Zoey were positioned so that they could see their table and all of the people sitting there, including Drew. May turns back to Zoey.

"Okay. I should just explain… why."

"I'm all ears, May," Zoey says putting her hands on her hips.

"I love Drew," May admits, "but we've had our many ups and downs. The first time we got together, we were about 13. He lost to me in the semifinals of the Orange Islands Grand Festival, and he said… 'I may not be a champion today', and then he went on to ask me," May then breaks down once again in front of Zoey. "He asked me if he could be my champion. He asked me if I could be his girlfriend, and I said yes. Looking back on it… I shouldn't have said yes, then. We were just too young."

"What caused our first breakup was… Drew doing something pretty fucking stupid. I should cut him some slack because of his age at the time, but Drew didn't know what it meant to be a good boyfriend. How could he, really? He had no prior experience," May says, laughing. "Anyway, he didn't know it until I confronted him later, but I caught him joking with some other trainers and coordinators at a media meet and greet, and… my name came up."

"Drew brought me up and this trainer from Johto had talked to him about how I was a real bitch to his sister at a contest. He was right, because I do remember being kind of pissed off that day about something my mother had told me earlier that I can't remember. I ended up taking my frustrations out on her, and it didn't help that I lost the final to her and refused to shake her hand."

"Now, I'm not excusing my actions," May defends, "and I'd be the first person to tell anyone that asks if I was a bitch that day that I indeed was, but Drew was not a good boyfriend. Instead of telling this boy hey, that's my girlfriend and I don't appreciate what you're saying, et cetera, he said, and I quote 'well, shit happens, man. Girls can be bitches. As a matter of fact, they are more often than not bitches to each other than to other guys as a matter of survival.'" May, for probably the tenth time today cries, this time in Zoey's arms. Zoey did not scold May for crying this time as she was in far too much shock to do so. Zoey just could not believe that Drew failed to defend his girlfriend in that instance.

"He actually said that?" Zoey asks. May answers with a nod. "That's asinine, May!"

"I confronted him 15 minutes later," May continues. "I came to him and while he tried to greet me warmly, I…nearly ran in his direction and slapped the shit out of him. I let him know just how pissed off I was at him. Then I told him I know what you think about young women, and I found it funny that you grouped your girlfriend into that fray. Then I asked him point blank did you really think those things about me? Do you really think I'm a bitch?"

"And what did he say?" Zoey wonders out loud. "He had to have an explanation!"

"He stood there dumbfounded, and said nothing," May reveals, "And to that, I told him 'maybe you can think about it single', and I broke up with him right then and there. The only problem was that I didn't tell anyone. Drew has had dinner at my parents' house, and they accepted him with open arms the first time we got together. But they warned us that they were somewhat apprehensive of our age for good reason."

"I didn't go to them and tell them that we broke up. In fact, to this day, they still think that we've stayed together for the entire six years. Instead of going to my parents, and risking hearing about 100 'we told you so's' from them about me and Drew being too young for that type of relationship, I went back to traveling on my own for about two weeks. I met up with this girl in a Hoenn contest, and she saw that I was really down in the dumps."

"I…bared my soul to her, and looking back, I'm glad that I did. I was still mad at Drew, and hadn't talked to anyone about this. I asked her 'do all guys feel like that about women? Do they all feel that women _need_ men?' She said even though none of them will ever admit it to a woman, that's the way they all feel." May takes a look to both sides of her, and to Zoey. "I was flabbergasted. She was telling me that guys respected other guys more than they respected women, and would open up more about their feelings about women to other guys than they would even to their wives or girlfriends."

"She suggested to me that I come to this meeting on a Saturday night. She said that it would be a place where girls and young women in my situation could get out their frustrations in front of an open forum. So I did. Little did I know that it was actually a party of sorts, for the female LGBT community in that area, and I'll never forget, that not even two minutes within entering the building that night, I saw at least eight girls, some my age (13) or a bit younger at the time, and they were all kissing other girls. I panicked, and for good reason. I didn't know jack shit about homosexuality, or more specifically lesbianism, and went to leave. I didn't even try to find the person who invited me to this gathering."

"I was maybe…two seconds from leaving, when I heard a familiar voice ask 'you're sick and tried of guys breaking your heart, too?' That spoke to me, because that's exactly what happened to me. I put my trust in Drew, and he really let me down. I tried to find this voice and it belonged to an old friend named Kelly, from Lilycove City."

Zoey puts two and two together. "Yeah, I remember quite well. Kelly was the one! Kelly was the girl who introduced me to you that night I was at the hangout for the first time! You've still been with her after all this time?"

"It's not that simple, Zoey. Kelly and I talked that night for maybe four hours, and became much better friends. We talked about Drew, and coordinating and boys, and the pokeblock berry business, and family and… whatever else under the sun, until the unavoidable subject surfaced. I asked her why she was there that night, and she told me with no hesitation whatsoever that she was a lesbian and she was there to help people that might have thought that way and needed help sorting out their feelings. I asked her 'Aren't you ashamed?', 'cause like I said, I didn't know anything about that lifestyle. My parents had sheltered me from much of the real world over the years, and..." May starts to sniffle, as she gathers her thoughts once more. "Going on my journey for the first time was the start of many new experiences for me."

"Kelly asked me why she should be ashamed for being who she is. It… her words touched me, because as I got to see for the next few days, she was always happy, and nothing ever got her down. It didn't matter that she chose a lifestyle that not too many people were keenly on the side of, 'cause she didn't care. She was just happy, and at that time, I wasn't happy. I wanted to be happy. I wanted that feeling, and I asked her how I could get it. She said she didn't know, but she asked me out of curiosity, 'What are some of the things that have made you sad?' I told her Drew and… guys in general, but that I doubted that I was a lesbian because I could still see myself with guys."

"She then asked me point blank, 'Could you see yourself with both men and women?', and I hadn't even thought about that. I didn't know it was possible for me to have romantic feelings for both men and women, but after much self-consultation and help from Kelly, I realized that I was bisexual. After some time, Kelly and I became best friends. Drew then came back around. He came to me with two dozen roses and in tears, and he told me that he was an ass for not defending me when he should have."

"He…begged me to take him back and promised that he would do better by me and by us. I had no idea what to do. I didn't want to be heartbroken by him again, so I told him two things. One was that I would think about it, and give him an answer soon, and two was to not come to me, because I would come to him. I told Kelly about the situation, and she said that I should go back to Drew, but to keep her informed on how things were going."

"So I went back to Drew. Things…started out well, but I saw something kind of… disheartening. Drew now didn't want to talk to anyone about us for our second run in a relationship. If anyone asked, I would often have to tell people that we were together. This made me even madder than when he'd talk about me, but didn't defend me when the time was right. I confronted him about it, and he told me that I made him self-conscious because he's a very small guy. In his mind, outsiders saw me as the dominant individual in the relationship. I'm over six feet tall and about 190 pounds, and Dawn gives Drew a run for his money, because he's only about 5'5"." This causes Zoey to laugh for the simple fact that it is true.

"Okay, but how does this lead to you carrying on a lesbian affair with Kelly for so many years?" Zoey asks.

"He told me that I made him self-conscious, and we were right back to square one once more. I was so pissed off that he couldn't see beyond superficial nonsense that I asked him if he was threatened by me, and he said yes. I slapped him out of anger, again and… I called him a hopeless prick, because he based his actions and his behavior on these antiquated ideas about the role of a man and a woman in a relationship, and I broke up with him once more."

"I went back to Lilycove and Kelly the next day. I was sick and tried of crying over a hopeless case, and I told her this. She told me, 'I know someone who wouldn't be afraid of telling you that they loved you and showing it, and they wouldn't be afraid of defending you when you might act like a bitch'. I was, like, there's someone out there like that, and she said yes. I was desperate, so I asked Kelly 'Who?', and she smiled for a moment and said 'Me'."

"I looked at her kind of funny, but I saw in her eyes a type of… peace that I didn't feel from Drew in out first two stints as a couple. She wanted to be my girlfriend, but if I said 'no,' it wasn't the end of the world for her. I took her up on her offer right then and there, and once we kissed, I could feel this energy between us that I didn't get from Drew, or any other potential male suitors. I never thought that I would be bisexual and in love with a girl, but it happened. I can't explain it, but it happened. No one knows about us, though, except you."

"We ought to get back, or everyone's gonna worry about us," Zoey interrupts. "But I wanna hear the rest of this story and I will call you to hear the rest, because I know there is more."

"Okay," May simply responds.

* * *

"Dawn," Drew says to the Twinleaf town native, getting her attention while Zoey is off with May.

"Yeah, Drew?"

"May told me about the good news. You and Zoey are together as a couple now. Congratulations! I think that's great."

"Thanks Drew!" Dawn says, surprised that Drew knew and he was very happy for them both.

"Ready to go, Dawn?" Zoey asks, returning to the table and kissing her on the lips.

"Yeah," she says yawning. "I'm tired. God, this sure has been one hell of a fucking day for me. I beat four Grand Festival champions; I get told by one of my best friends that she loves me, I go through this… 'Kingda Ka' like roller coaster of emotions afterwards, I battle in the Grand Festival and lose by a paper-thin margin, and bitch and moan about it until Zoey came in like a knight in shining armor to rescue me, and now I have my prince charming."

"I still think 'Top Thrill Dragster' is a better coaster ride," Max adds.

"Max," May says in shock, "Shut the fuck up! Dawn's had a rough day, she's letting her feelings be known, and all you can think about is what roller coaster is better?" She scoffs. "You're such a boy, Max."

"Hey!" Drew exclaims. "Be easy on him, alright May? He's just trying to lighten the mood."

"That's right," Max says, getting up from his seat, and going over to both Dawn and Zoey, hugging them both, saying, "I wish you two nothing but the best, 'cause there's no guarantee that this will be easy for either of you."

"That's fine, Max," Zoey retorts. "Besides, how does the old saying go? 'That which is easy is sleazy?' I don't know. Anyway, we'll be fine. I think we're gonna go back to Sinnoh and challenge for that Grand Festival title. Where are you going after tonight, May?"

"Ummm…I think I'll take a break and head back to Petalburg and have a proper celebration in my hometown with my folks." May admits, not really sure what's next for her.

"And, I'll be right there with May wherever she goes," Drew says with a smile that could light Las Vegas.

"Awww," both Max and Dawn affectionately vocalize.

"Well, I'm going back to the Johto region to get badges number seven and eight," Max says, confidently.

"And you'll certainly do great in the Silver Conference," Zoey encourages. "Well good night, everyone."

Responses of 'Good night, Dawn and Zoey,' 'Good luck to you two,' and 'Hope to see you soon' flood the restaurant as the new couple leaves the building after having a hearty meal on the house, courtesy of the management for being a part of the company of the new Grand Festival Champion.

Once outside at about 11p.m. in the evening as they walk to Zoey's red Ferrari F430 sports car, Dawn asks Zoey, "So what did you and May talk about?"

"What do you think?" Zoey asks with a noticeable level of sarcasm. "I won't stop until I get to the bottom of this whole affair that May is having with this girl, whose name I now remember is Kelly."

"Just—this whole thing is…crazy," Dawn admits. "May is playing them both for a fool because she can't seem to make good choices for Drew, Kelly, or herself. Oh! Before we take off, Zoey, let me check my messages." Dawn checks her cell phone, and finds that for the entire day that it was off; she only received one voicemail message. She waits to hear it, and finally hears a prerecorded message that makes her very nervous upon its completion. Zoey notices this.

"Dawn, what's wrong? Who was that?"

Dawn shakes her head as she closes her phone and then takes a deep breath. "That was my mother. She told me that she saw my interview, and she wants me to come home right away, because we have some things to discuss. And…she ended her message with 'Bring Zoey.'" Dawn begins to tear up as she goes to hug her girlfriend. "I'm scared, Zoey! What if she…"

"Dawn? No," Zoey simply says. "Johanna loves you, lesbian or no lesbian, gay or straight, she loves you. She wouldn't abandon you just because of a choice that you made to be with me as a partner."

"How can you be so sure, Zoey?"

"I'm not," Zoey smiles, while shrugging her shoulders. "Someone has to put a positive spin on this. She might not even want me there to scold us. Johanna has always liked me. I remember the dinners we've had together, and she's always said that I'm a good friend for you, and now… we just gotta let her know that we've become a little bit more. Come on," Zoey says, releasing the embrace and opening the passenger's side door of the car to let Dawn inside. "Let's face the music. If we start now, we'll get to Twinleaf early in the morning, and settle this." Zoey and Dawn get inside the fire red motorcar and drive off into the night.

* * *

It is a little after six in the morning the day after the exciting Grand Festival final, among other things in the life of Dawn Berlitz. Neither Dawn nor her girlfriend Zoey D. Neale got any sleep prior to arriving to their destination, that being Johanna's house in Twinleaf town, and once Zoey parked her Ferrari, the two took about a minute or so to stretch before they looked at the entrance to Dawn's home, not knowing what would await them when they walked inside.

"Say, Dawn," Zoey asks, "Will Johanna even be awake at this time?"

"She should be," Dawn says, depressed.

"Like I said, Dawn," Zoey assures, "we won't know what will happen until we go inside. But… let me say this,"

"OWWW!!" Dawn interjects, making the mistake of leaning her leg against the exposed exhaust pipes on the car.

"Are you hot?" Zoey asks, concerned.

Dawn rubs her leg while saying, "Well, I am hot."

Zoey decides that this is a good time to make a flattering joke, and laughs, saying, "Yeah. No shit."

Dawn realizes what Zoey meant when she said those three words, and playfully pushed her girlfriend, saying, "I meant that the damn exhaust pipes made my leg hot, Zoey, but…" Dawn begins, embarrassed, "You really think I'm hot?"

"Hell yeah, Dawn!" Zoey exclaims. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You're the perfect combination of brains, confidence, sexiness and class that I was attracted to over the last five years or so."

"Oh," Dawn says, adding some seduction to her voice. "Really?"

Zoey grabs Dawn by the hips, letting her right hand graze over the blue haired girl's backside while she kisses her on the lips, not noticing that the front door has opened, and someone is watching this scene take place.

Once she stops this very open display of affection, Zoey answers Dawn by saying, "Yeah, really."

The sound of an 'Ahem' causes Zoey to release Dawn and turn to the front door of the house where she sees Johanna on the front porch, tapping her feet.

"Come inside, girls," Johanna says, not greeting her daughter or Zoey, and appearing to be completely emotionless in all ways. As Johanna goes back into the house, Zoey feels something grip her left hand. It's Dawn, who tells Zoey to 'stay strong'. Zoey smiles back to her girlfriend as they walk up the steps to the house, and Zoey prepares for what she feels will be a long conversation with her girlfriend's mother.

* * *

A/N: Oh! That Rave The Rich is so evil, leaving the story just like that! Don't worry; the next chapter will come in the very near future. The title does make perfect sense as 'Kingda Ka' and 'Top Thrill Dragster' are both tall and fast roller coasters, and the last two days (or in some character's cases, several years) have been just like a riding those rides 50 straight times.

As always, leave you constructive criticism, and check this author's page for updates on future stories.


	6. Still Dawn

A Confession Gone Awry

One observer does not think that the rightful coordinator won the Kanto Grand Festival, and his name is Ash Ketchum. His comrades in the booth don't think much of it, but will anything come of Ash's legitimate gripe? May and Drew, along with Max, Dawn, Zoey, and many others celebrate May's victory at a local restaurant. May becomes very emotional when her boyfriend Drew proposes a toast. Zoey notices this and demands that May tells her why she cheats on Drew when he is nothing but a gentleman to her.

May talks about how Drew was not always a gentleman, and gets to the point where she bears her soul to her current mistress, Kelly after May and Drew's second breakup, and they become a couple under wraps at the behest of May. As Zoey and Dawn prepare to leave for Sinnoh, Dawn listens to a voicemail from her mother Johanna, telling her to come home and to 'Bring Zoey'. When they get there the next morning, Johanna catches them in a compromising position, and stoically asks both girls to come into the house.

NOTE: Here is another important name to remember now, and for the upcoming spin-off to this fic in the fall.

Kelly Alicia Ambrose Mordetsky

WARNING: This chapter's initial scene contains female masturbation and descriptions of sexual acts, but the scene is a very key element to the story as far as the relationship between May and her mistress Kelly and boyfriend Drew is concerned. Obviously, this (and the whole story, for that matter) is not meant for young children, and they should not be reading this, period.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 6- Still Dawn)

* * *

Light grunts can be heard inside of the Maple home in Petalburg City. These are not grunts of struggle or pleasure; rather they are a unique combination of both. They can be heard inside of all places the Maple family gym. It is about 5:15 a.m., and everyone in the house is asleep, from Norman and Caroline in the master bedroom, to Max in his Pokémon fanatics room, and finally Drew in the pullout bed in the family room.

Everyone, including Drew, is tired from celebrating yesterday's Grand Festival victory with Norman and Caroline celebrating at home and May, Max and Drew celebrating on the road and coming back home in time to settle in for a mini vacation before deciding on each one's next destination.

There is, however one person who is in deep concentration in the form of intense exercise, which also explains the grunting. It's the Grand Festival champ May Maple, who is bench pressing over 350 pounds above her head without a spotter, and doing over 20 reps on the weight. She is wearing a black and white bandana over her hair, but also has on a black headband, black Under Armour, black sweatpants, and a brown weight belt. For many people, this is a difficult and dangerous task, but May does it without breaking a sweat and in less than two minutes.

This complex and intense workout has given May an appearance that is the envy of many bodybuilders and strongmen alike. She gets up everyday before the crack of dawn and runs eight miles on a treadmill, stretches for anywhere from 30-45 minutes, leg presses over 750 pounds, does over 500 vertical pull ups, over 500 push ups, and does over an hour of resistance training a day with a Bowflex machine. After nearly two hours of an intense workout, May sits on a chair in the workout room.

She got into serious and intense training at the behest of her current mistress Kelly, who was shown to be in much greater shape than May one day some five years ago when an organized crime unit known as Avenue Five stole May's Delcatty. Kelly was able to run quickly enough to get Delcatty back to May, but after only a minute or so of running in an attempt to catch up with Avenue Five, May got blown up quickly and had to stop. But Kelly continued onward, helping her girlfriend by tackling a male Avenue Five operative who was significantly larger than her, and retrieving Delcatty.

It was there that once the operative was knocked out and detained by Kelly that May arrived onto the scene. Kelly could clearly see that May was out of shape, and suggested that she start an exercise regimen. Within about two months, she could notice the difference, especially when she made serious changes to her diet, removing fatty foods and including numerous fruits and vegetables, along with lean meats to give her needed protein for her advanced muscular development. But the biggest change in May's opinion was her increased stamina above all other bodily improvements.

This could especially be seen in the very active sexual life of the teen dating all the way back to when she was just 14 years old. Indeed, May Maple had lost her virginity to her then girlfriend Kelly Mordetsky at the tender and (arguably) innocent age of 14, and had subsequently lost that innocence, among other things. Both she and Kelly grew up to become hardcore nymphomaniacs who quite frankly loved sex, attempted to have it on multiple occasions daily with multiple peaks of sexual gratification, and sought to learn as much as they could about the subject to benefit both partner's sex lives.

May loved being the _uke_, or the submissive partner in a relationship, and that is where Kelly, who loves role play as a dominatrix, comes into play. During oral sex, Kelly would eat May's pussy, and punish her if she did things like pull her hair or pull her into her snatch too close. Her favorite punishment techniques would often be biting May's tits or on rare occasions, her clitoris. Another form of punishment was teasing, and Kelly was the master of it. She would often pull away just before May was just about to cum, and would often go many nights without driving May to her sexual peaks, despite the feeling of accomplishment it gave her to know that she made a stronger woman beg for sexual gratification. Kelly would even use toys like a strap on to have sex with May the 'traditional' way to show her who was boss in the bedroom.

Around the age of 15 or so, she was not back with Drew just yet, but she and Drew were back to being friends. Drew might have now been considered a friend in the eyes of May, but in her opinion, he was nowhere near the level of friend to know about this behavior. There were several reasons behind this. One was that she did not want anyone with any type of conflict of interest as it relates to her family or close friends to know that she was bisexual and in an intimate relationship with a girl.

May always said that it was for the best, as she continued to play up to her parents that she was still in a committed relationship with Drew. Besides, there was no way that she would _ever_ tell her parents that she was in a lesbian relationship for fear that they would want no part of their daughter's life again. The fact is that Norman and Caroline are very homophobic people, and no matter what type of explaining May could do to attempt to tell her parents that she was not gay but bisexual and the differences behind the two, none of it would matter. All that would matter is that she had sex with a girl, and they couldn't handle that in May's opinion.

May kept a straight face about her fear of being ostracized from her family for the most part, as she and Kelly kept virtually everything about their relationship a mystery to the outside world. People that do know about their relationship could either care less, like Kelly's mother, or want May to at least come clean to Drew about her activities, like Zoey and now Dawn. But often times, random things would cause her to blow up in anger and frustration, like Max's roller coaster comments at the restaurant, or Max telling May not to get too cocky in yesterday's battle.

'Max gets me pretty damn angry at times,' May thinks, and smiles when she considers the times she has let out her anger on her little brother. She knows that he doesn't deserve much of the mistreatment that she gives him, but the prospect of possibly losing her parents based on being with someone she loved always kept her on the edge.

May doesn't have that long to ponder her current affairs as her cellular phone rings, signaling that someone has sent her an e-mail. It is a third generation Apple iPhone that she uses free of charge in a sponsorship deal that she signed at the age of 16. The e-mail is from Kelly, and it reads:

_Dear Georgia May,_

_This message is here to congratulate you on a fantastic performance in yesterday's Grand Festival. It literally had me on the edge of my seat as Lillian Meridian was about to read off the winner. If you get the chance to see Zoey D. soon, tell her that I was also rooting for her, and thought that it would be cool to have the both of you in a Grand Festival once again, just like in Orre, with the results this time slanted in your favor like they were yesterday. _

_Oh, if I could only congratulate you personally and 'properly' at your home, I think that that would truly be icing on the cake for the undisputed Grand Festival Champion and the hottest and sexiest woman in all of Petalburg City and the Hoenn region, besides me, of course. LOL. I SO wish that your parents understood our relationship like my mom, but alas, our dilemma forces us to go long distance for now._

_No problem, though. I do plan on seeing you very soon, and to tide you over before then, I've sent you a little gift for your victory in an e-mail attachment. Try not to scream too loud when you see this! _

_Ciao gal!_

_Kelly the Cutie_

"I love it when she calls me 'Georgia May," May says, smiling. As May scrolls down on the e-mail and clicks the link that opens the attachment, wondering 'Scream too loud? What the fuck is she talking about?' May is confronted with just what Kelly meant, as her mistress shot a picture of herself in the bed completely naked, and lightly rubbing her womanhood with her right hand while she squeezes her left nipple with her left hand. The picture shows the entire toned and athletic body of the Lilycove native, as she blows a kiss to the camera and gives a sensual wink to the one woman audience that is viewing the photo.

"Holy… fucking shit," is all that May can say, as she is shaking in her shoes looking at the stunningly beautiful body of her lover on the screen of her phone. May is starting to sweat bullets upon seeing the photo, and can't fight the feeling inside of her, flowing throughout all of her erogenous zones. She has to let it out somehow, and finally understands what Kelly meant when she said 'Try not to scream to loud when you see this'.

Indeed, May was covering her mouth, trying not to wake up the rest of the house and Petalburg City by screaming out her sexual frustrations. She had not been able to meet up with her lover in quite some time, for good reason. She and her Pokémon were in an intense training regimen for the Grand Festival, but now that it was over, she was content with having fun with her lover, with no regard to her relationship with Drew.

"I love him," May claims, "but he's just no fun. I hate to say it, but he's very boring." May then takes a deep breath and walks slowly out of the workout room and to the nearest bathroom, so as not to wake the house up by accidentally hitting something in her path to the restroom. Once she gets there, she closes and locks the door quietly, and looks at the cell phone photo once more.

"God, she makes me wiggle like JELL-O with that wink," May whispers as puts down her phone so she can remove her shoes and socks, sweatpants, and panties in record time. She then removes her bandana, headband, and finally her shirt leaving her in just a sports bra, and sits down onto the toilet seat. There was no mistaking it. She wanted to come to her mistress's photo as soon as possible.

May, who is left handed, holds the phone in her right hand, while she sticks one finger inside of her flower and sensually sighs, as she places another two fingers inside, stretching her welcoming snatch. May now starts to slowly but surely increase the pace in which the fingers in her entry go in and out of her moist pussy.

"Oh, yes. Fuck me just like that Kelly," May moans, pretending that Kelly is the one who is giving her the 'treatment'. "Ram those digits right into my pussy. Georgia May has been a very bad girl. You know just how to make this bitch scream, you fucking tease! OHHH!!"

Only in recent years since getting back together with Drew has it occurred that May would be forced to quell her amorous feelings via self-abuse, but at this point in her rampant and furious activity, the Maple girl is beyond caring, with her only mission being to make her mistress happy knowing that her photo made her reach another plane as far as visual sensations are concerned.

May goes at an even quicker pace, now with her index and middle fingers slamming inside of her like pistons on a car engine and the force providing a necessary spark to send her into a sensational overdrive. Her stamina from many years of intense workouts means that, she has not broken a sweat, even though she is mere seconds away from coming.

What finally sends the brunette over the edge after about five minutes of activity is a trick that she learned from Kelly. With her two fingers in quick motion inside of her private area, she uses her thumb to rub her ignored clitoris, and then proceeds to scream a horror movie scream. Several obscenities and interjections such as 'fuck', 'I'm coming', and the name 'Kelly', along with several moans and groans were loudly screamed by May. She had succeeded in her mission, and afterwards could only breathe hard and shiver in pure excitement.

"May? Are you alright in there?" a voice from outside the bathroom questions while also knocking on the bathroom door.

'Fuck! It's Drew!' May thinks to herself, frightened. 'Could he have heard me masturbating to Kelly?'

"Uhh…" May hesitates, "Yeah, I'm okay. I just cramped up from my morning workout," she says, proud to have come up with such a convincing alibi. "That's all," she concludes.

"All right, then," Drew says with some sleep still in his voice. "I'm going back to bed."

"Sweet dreams, Drew," May says laconically. May then exhales, knowing that she truly dodged a bullet by masturbating in a house where there are several people that would like to get their daily supply of sleep. She then looks over to the window of the bathroom, and finds that the sun is slowly creeping over the horizon. It is still quite early in the day.

"Still dawn," May says, as she pants quickly, gets her clothes and her phone, and heads to her room to lie down after two rigorous workouts, one of which was unplanned.

* * *

"Have a seat, girls," Johanna simply says, as she sits in a loveseat that faces a couch that Dawn and Zoey eventually sit in after no more than ten seconds of Johanna's command to sit down.

Though you would not know it based on looking at either of them at the moment, both Dawn and Zoey are nervous wrecks. Much of that has to do with the fact that neither of them have had much sleep over the last day or so, and are not just physically tired, but emotionally fatigued, as well.

Johanna is struggling to find the words to describe her feelings at the moment, but finally begins by asking, "So… you're a lesbian, Zoey?"

"Yes ma'am. I am," Zoey says with no hesitation.

"And you are in love with my daughter?"

"Yes, I am," Zoey reiterates, squeezing Dawn's hand and smiling in her direction, saying, "I am very much in love with Dawn. I have been for a very long time."

"Would you say that… you are concerned for her welfare and her safety?" Johanna inquires.

"Johanna? I'd put my own life on the line for Dawn, and…"

"Bullshit! I'm not fucking buying it, Zoey!" Johanna interrupts with a yell. Zoey is in legitimate shock, as she had never in the five years that she had gotten to know her childhood idol had heard her curse before.

"How can you sit there and say that you care about my daughter? If you did, you wouldn't have told her something so private and personal in front of a worldwide television audience, and put so much pressure on her to not say no," Johanna sneers. "Now everyone and their mother believes and rightfully assumes that Dawn is gay!"

"Do you have any idea—any idea at all the number of phone calls I've gotten in just the last 18 hours from family and friends that saw what happened, and do you have any idea how it felt to tell them all 'I don't know what's going on with my daughter?' Huh? It sucks, Zoey! There's no other way to put it than it fucking sucks!" Johanna then slams her right fist onto a table, and cries into her hands.

"I feel like I'm losing my daughter to this," Johanna scoffs. "Oh! And the best part is that I don't even have to ask you if you returned the feelings, Dawn, because I saw you out there with Zoey just a few minutes ago, having a… a gay old time."

"Mom?"

"No! Shut up, Dawn! I'm still talking!" Johanna screams, and then she sobs once more.

"Oh, God, what did I do wrong? Is my daughter… a lesbian?" Johanna questions no one in particular. "Damn it all," she whispers. Johanna then turns her glaze towards her daughter. "You know, it's funny, Dawn," she says, with a disturbing smile, "I said to you when you were only four years old, in daycare with the other kids, while you got your hair done by your girl peers, and some boys would often give you… their cookies during snack time and said that they wanted to be your boyfriend," Johanna sniffles while laughing.

"I said that you would break a lot of hearts growing up. And, I remember you asked me what that meant, and I said, 'I'll tell you when you get older'. I never would have guessed…" Johanna continues with her voice breaking, "I _never _would have guessed… that I would be one of those hearts. And I was right, and I hate it, because if it's true, then you're really breaking my heart right now, Dawn. Is it true? Are you really gay, my only child?"

Dawn sees the tears in her mother's eyes, and knows that the entire situation is an emotional one for her. She seeks to end the agony by answering her mother's question. "Mom, I can't lie to you…" Dawn begins in a vain attempt to find the right words to say to her mother about the entire scenario. "Yes, I am a lesbian… by choice."

Johanna brings her hands up to her face to look at them. They are wet with the tears she has cried for her only child. She flings her hands off to her sides and shakes her head, mouthing 'Just great. Just fucking great,' and then she turns her glaze over to Zoey, and gets very angry. She points her right index finger at the redhead.

"This… this is all your goddamn fault, bitch!" she says to Zoey.

Zoey looks downright insulted at that comment, and lets Johanna know it, saying "I beg your pardon, ma'am?"

"Mom," Dawn says, interrupting her girlfriend, "I don't care how you feel right now about what I've just told you, it's still no excuse for you to call people outside of their names, especially when they don't deserve it! Apologize to Zoey, now!"

"No, Dawn!" Johanna says, deliberately. "She's the reason your mind is clouded with this…idea that you think you're gay!"

"But I am, mom! I _am_ gay! Why is that so hard for you of all people to understand?" Dawn defends.

"Johanna," Zoey continues, "I don't know if you heard your daughter or not, but this is something that _she_ chose. She's the one that _chose _to be with me, and she is also the one that chose to live as a gay woman. I didn't goad her. I couldn't have goaded her if I tried. She's with me because—Dawn, tell your mother why you're with me. She's her own individual, and she can speak for herself."

Dawn stands up and walks over to her mother, who is still seated with tears in her eyes, unable to accept the truth, as her daughter has told her.

"Mom?" Dawn asks, holding Johanna's hands. "Could you do me a favor and please stop crying?" she inquires, while smiling. "Honestly, what's there to be sad about? I'm gay, but I'm still Shannon Dawn Chandler Berlitz. I'm still Dawn, mom."

"Shannon?" Zoey asks, confused. Ever since she had known Dawn that is all that anyone has ever called her.

"It's her first name," Johanna says, now calmed down to an extent. "She has never particularly cared for it, because she's told me that she thinks 'Shannon' is a name for a boy, so me and her extended family have just called her by her middle name. Anyway," Johanna continues, looking closer into her daughter's eyes.

"I will agree with you on this. You're still Dawn, but… I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm scared for you. I'm _damn_ scared for you, Dawn."

"Mom? What have I told you so many times over the years? Don't worry about me!"

"And I've told _you_, Dawn," Johanna retorts, "that it's when you tell me _not_ to worry that I end up worrying the most. I still love you, but… you do realize that nobody will look at you the same again, and as much as it pains me to say this… _I_ don't even know if I can look at you the same ever again."

"Mom," Dawn begins, "There are a few things that I should clear up. First off, no offense, but I don't give a damn what _anyone_ thinks about me being with Zoey, including you. It's hard to understand, because if I tried to explain every feeling going through my head right now, you would be so lost, you'd need six GPS navigation systems to get back on track. But every fiber of my being is telling me that I am with the one that I should be with in Zoey. Second, I'm here because you asked me and Zoey to come here, because you wanted_ us_ to talk, but that can only work if we get the chance to talk and defend ourselves like we're doing right now."

"Third of all, you of all people should know about the rotten luck I've had with past boyfriends. One turned out to be a closet gay himself that in retrospect only dated me to keep the media off of his tail, and another one damn near got me sent to prison for five years, mom, for his crimes. I could have gone to jail simply by close association with him. You know this, mom, especially the nights I spent on the phone crying over my gay ex-boyfriend, and my…other ex-boyfriend."

"In retrospect, I was sick of it, mom. I was literally fucking sick of it all."

"Dawn? Don't use that word in front of your mother," Zoey says.

"So for a while," Dawn continues, seemingly ignoring Zoey's request. "I decided to not date at all. Zoey knew that I had had a who's who of boyfriends, but…" Dawn starts to tear up, "she doesn't know the crap I've been through, but you do, mom. Even though Zoey has had feelings for me dating all the way back to when she only 11 years old, she… was a true friend throughout all of my dates, giving me advice on what to do and… she's incredible, mom."

"And you shouldn't have called her a bitch out of anger, because Zoey may be a lot of things, but she is certainly not a bitch. Apologize to her, mom! She didn't deserve it. Like she said, I'm with her because I _want_ to be with her! So apologize to Zoey right now for calling her that horrible name."

Johanna watches her daughter defend Zoey, and is caught off guard for just a moment. It is clear that Dawn is consistent in her claim that she is very much in love with Zoey, and that it is something that she has decided on her own, 'with some help from Zoey in the form of a kiss,' Johanna thinks to herself. It's not something that she can sweep under the rug, or keep locked in the closet, no pun intended, so she decides to take action and get to the bottom of Zoey's feelings.

"Dawn," Johanna starts, "go to your room. Zoey and I have a few things to talk about alone. When we're done, we'll call you back here. Understood?"

Dawn is confused, wondering what her mother would want to discuss with her girlfriend that Johanna didn't want her to hear, but nevertheless agrees to her mother's request walking up the first four stairs before turning back to the two most important women in her life, saying "If I hear that either of you have physically hurt each other, or if I feel that an argument has gone too far, I'm coming back down here, and we'll settle this the hard way." Dawn walks up the remainder of the steps to her room, slamming the door as she walks inside.

"Fuck!" Dawn interjects, punching the closed door of her room in frustration. She sighs, as she goes over to one of her dresser drawers and pulls out a small carton and a lighter.

"I really need to quit, but I think I need to calm my nerves more than anything right now," Dawn says out loud. She then proceeds to take a stick from out of the carton, and light the stick with the self-contained flame as she takes some puffs from the cigarette. Indeed, for the last year or so, Dawn has taken up the habit of smoking. It isn't something that Zoey knows about, but she started the habit while with her last boyfriend less than two years ago, and she considers it the best thing she picked up from that failure of a relationship.

* * *

Johanna pats the empty part of the loveseat in the living room, and tells Zoey to "come over here, sit down and we'll talk, Zoey. And this time, I do mean _we _will talk, and not just me." Zoey is initially apprehensive, but gets a good look at her girlfriend's mother's eyes and takes a seat next to her childhood influence.

"So, what do you wanna talk about, Zoey?" Johanna asks. Zoey does not know what to think, as Johanna has left the one on one forum open for Zoey to make the first move.

"I do love, respect, and care for your daughter very much, Johanna," Zoey starts. "The confession was spontaneous, and… it was something that I wanted to do, but never got up the mettle to tell her how I felt until yesterday. But…she told me over the course of the day that she would let me know how she felt eventually, and I didn't know if that would take a day, a week, or a month, but it turns out that it only took an hour or so."

"How could she decide something that important so quickly, though?"

"You're gonna have to ask her, Johanna, because I don't know, either. If I had to take a guess, I'd say that… Dawn needed some kind of sign to know that I truly loved her, but that's just a guess that I have," Zoey admits. "You mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead, Zoey."

"How much does it _really_ bother you that you're daughter just admitted to you that she's a lesbian?" Johanna looks at Zoey, wonderingly. She did not expect that question to come from the redheaded tribade, and it takes some time before the elder woman finally gives Zoey an answer.

"Honestly, Zoey, it only bothers me somewhat," Johanna answers. "Even though I would prefer that my daughter be straight, her happiness is most important to me." Johanna then takes in a deep breath. "I guess the reason for my anger is twofold. She never told me that she might be gay, and I feel slighted that she couldn't confide in me with something so important in her life. I mean, I _am_ her mother, Zoey."

"Can I say this, Johanna?" Zoey addendums, "The first person or persons that knew that I knew that I was a lesbian… were not my parents, either. It was a girlfriend/mentor who was bisexual and helped me realize that my preferences were legitimate, and that I was in love with Dawn."

"I think, and I say this from personal experience because my parents have known about my lesbianism for over three years…the child doesn't want the relationship he or she has with their parents to change just because of a decision he or she has made that quite frankly has nothing to do with them, but they're smart enough to know that their folks won't be doing back flips upon hearing that they are gay."

"You're a wise girl, Zoey," Johanna admits. "There is one other personal reason why Dawn's confession is so disheartening to me. She's my only child, and she's the one that's supposed to continue the family line and…after this confession, I don't know now if I'll ever see her walk the aisle in a wedding dress," Johanna sniffles, and cries once again. "I'm never gonna see her get married, have a family of her own. It stinks."

"Johanna," Zoey says in a comforting way, rubbing her near shoulder. "If I know your daughter, she won't let that get her down, and if she was here right now, she'd probably tell you that she can still have a family, it will just gonna be a little different from other families. And besides…" Zoey takes in a deep breath, "we're still young, and things could change. Right now, we're just girlfriends. Who knows what could happen in the next year or so?" Zoey says with a single tear coming out of her eye.

Both women reach out to each other for a hug, and squeeze onto each other tightly while they cry in each other's arms.

"Zoey? I'm sorry," Johanna says.

"What for?"

"For…calling you a bitch. You didn't deserve it at all. Dawn was right. You're nowhere near a bitch," Johanna admits. "Can you…promise me something, Zoey?"

"What's that, Johanna?"

"Please, for the love of God, please don't hurt Dawn," Johanna answers, looking straight into the teary eyes of Zoey, while tears still remain in her own eyes. "She's been through hell over the years, and…I doubt seriously that she could take any more heartbreak."

"What the hell happened with Dawn and her boyfriends that soured her on guys?" Zoey asks with serious concern.

Johanna assuredly smiles to Zoey, "You're gonna have to ask her. I doubt she'd appreciate me telling her story." Zoey snickers, and goes back to hugging Johanna, the two coming to a much better understanding of the role that each other plays in the life of their favorite girl, Dawn Berlitz. Zoey then pulls away from Johanna, after smelling something foreign inside of the house.

"Johanna," Zoey says, "do you smell that?"

Johanna takes a moment to get a whiff of the atmosphere, and does indeed smell something odd coming from the house. "Yeah. I do."

"It smells faint," Zoey adds. "Kind of like it's coming from upstairs," Zoey concludes. "Wanna check?" she asks Johanna.

"Okay." Zoey and Johanna slowly make their way upstairs, and spot a small amount of smoke coming from of all places, Dawn's room. This doesn't go unnoticed by Johanna, who immediately goes to Dawn's doorway, and opens it to see Dawn smoking a cigarette.

"Goddamn it, Dawn! You told me that you were gonna quit!" Johanna screams out of frustration. Zoey sees Dawn, but she cannot believe it.

"Dawn? You…smoke?" Zoey asks rhetorically, because she can see the evidence right in front of her eyes. Dawn has a cigarette in her right hand and two cigarette butts in an ashtray near her room lamp.

"Can you really blame me, mom?" Dawn asks Johanna. "With all the fucking stress I've been through…"

"Dawn!" Zoey and Johanna say in unison. Zoey then tells Dawn "Watch your language in front of your mother! I could care less if you curse in front of me, but your mother is a different story. You know me, I curse like I'm auditioning for a 'Sopranos' spin off, but never in front of my parents!"

"Listen to your girlfriend, Dawn," Johanna says sternly but inconspicuously.

Dawn takes a moment to think about what her mother just said 'She called Zoey my… _girlfriend_?' Dawn is curious about her mother's wording to say the least. "Are you two okay?" Dawn asks.

"Well Dawn, I apologized to Zoey and as far as you two being a couple…" Johanna takes a deep breath and halts her speech before smiling. "You have my blessing."

Nothing could stop Dawn from pouncing on her mother with a gorilla-like hug and telling her 'thank you, mom' several times and tearing up before she finally lets go of Johanna and goes over to her girlfriend.

"This is the best, Zoey," Dawn giddily says to her girlfriend while holding her hands and giving her a kiss on the lips. "My mom is alright with us being together!"

"I might be alright with it," Johanna says seriously, "but that doesn't mean that everyone else is alright with it, too."

* * *

"What happened before the Grand Festival final was an absolute disgrace!" said an angry woman on the early morning television news broadcast. "My young children were watching, and we were all so disgusted that we turned off the television, and called the network to voice our complaints!"

"Dawn and Zoey should probably be suspended," an older man says, "and…quite frankly, I think that criminal charges of indecency should also be placed upon them, as well." Johanna, Dawn and Zoey are back in the living room, and cannot believe that they are seeing this ignorance in the mass media.

Dawn is once again in tears, this time they are tears of sadness. "They're gonna turn our precious, beautiful love into a…a joke, Zoey!" Dawn then cries into her love's arms. "How can we even show our faces again, if everyone's just gonna label us based on a kiss? How can they judge us on a simple sign of affection from one lover to another?"

"This was my biggest concern," Johanna admits. "Not the lesbianism, but that the media would have a field day with your on-air kiss, and…" Johanna tells Dawn and Zoey to look at her and to listen. "These are the times where you two must, and I mean _must_ stay strong, and above all, stay together. Prove to them that your love is real and stable and true, and I guarantee you that they will get off of your back."

"But what do we do _now_, Mom?" Dawn says teary eyed. "It doesn't seem like it will ever stop." Zoey looks at her girlfriend and truly feels for her. She is now experiencing first hand the discrimination that Zoey has faced being a lesbian for many years.

But then she gets an idea that could not only get them away from the media firestorm, but help them bond together has a couple even further. "Hey! I know what we can do!" Zoey says cheerfully.

"What's that, love?" Dawn asks. Zoey pulls out her Motorola RAZR phone and hits a single button, and gets two rings before she hears a click.

"This is Adman," the voice on the other line, which is a male, greets.

"Adman? Daddy!" Zoey says, like she's met up with an old friend. "How's it going?" 'It's my father,' Zoey silently tells Johanna and Dawn.

"Not too bad, Zoey," The man known both as 'Adman' and Zoey's father responds. "Of course, we here at the house turned off the TV once you lost to Dawn, and got an early start in packing our bags for the Seafoam Islands for the rest of the summer."

"Funny you mentioned that, daddy," Zoey says, "You see me and a…really good friend of mine need to kinda lay low for maybe a week or two. You know, get away from it all, and I was wondering if me and my friend could join you guys for the summer retreat."

"Absolutely, Zoey!" Adman responds. "The more, the merrier! And after all, the summer house at the Seafoam Islands is under your name, and we just borrow it for the summer. K.C. is coming back home for the season, and of course the twins will be here."

"Great!" Zoey exclaims. "Wait. You said that you guys are still packing for the trip?"

"Yeah," Adman answers. "Our plan is to have a last meal here before taking off for the Kanto region and Seafoam late tonight."

"Great. We have a lot to talk about during dinner then. I'll see you tonight, daddy."

"Later, Zoey," Adman closes.

"Later, daddy," Zoey says, as she kisses the receiver and closes the cellular phone.

"Dawn," Zoey says to her girlfriend, "Let's just first get some rest, and later you can pack your bags, because we're going to dinner at my parent's house in Snowpoint City, and then we're going to the Neale family summer retreat and let the media steam from the kiss blow off! What do you say, dear? Spend some quality time with my family and not have to deal with the crap we just saw?"

Dawn doesn't even have to think about it. "Getting some rest sounds nice, because then we can get some energy for a vacation, because after everything that has happened in the last day or so, I think that all I'd do the entire week or two is sleep."

Zoey laughs at Dawn's admission, and then says to her girlfriend, "Come on, Dawn. You deserve a long rest. I'll give you a—well we can't really call it a 'good night' kiss because it's morning, so I'll give you a 'sweet dreams' kiss, and tuck you into your bed. How's that sound?"

"Like your moving into my territory, Zoey," says Johanna with a chuckle. "Just kidding. Go on. Get some rest you two." Zoey then leads Dawn up to the stairs and to her bedroom. Johanna has a moment to ponder everything that has led up to this point, and says…

"My girl…is now a young woman," Johanna admits out loud. "Zoey seems to bring the best out of her, and especially this time, I think that's what Dawn needs to stay…Dawn. Bless you, Zoey. I haven't seen my daughter this…happy or this content in a long time. It can't be coincidence that my Dawn gravitated to you. You could very well save my daughter, and she can overcome with your help."

* * *

A/N: As you shall see in future chapters, Dawn has had rotten luck with suitors over the years. Find out the whole story to that in coming chapters, and meet the entire Neale family as well!

Plus, the new rivalry in Pokémon coordinating actually involves someone who is NOT a Pokémon coordinator at all? What gets May Maple so pissed off that she scares her entire family and her boyfriend at the same time?

All this and more coming up on 'A Confession Gone Awry'!


	7. Vacation: Family Does Matter

A Confession Gone Awry (A/N: This is the same story as 'Overcoming the Odds')

May Maple's mistress Kelly Mordetsky sends her over the sexual edge by sending the younger girl a nude photo of herself after she finishes her morning workout. May masturbates to the photo in the bathroom, and screams loud enough to wake up her boyfriend Drew. Fearing that she might have woken up Drew and he heard the name Kelly, May spins the screaming, and makes up an alibi saying that she had muscle cramps from her morning workout.

Zoey and Dawn confront Dawn's mother Johanna, who after many tears and heartaches and a long talk with the two girls finally comes around to accepting that her daughter is a lesbian, and the relationship that she has with Zoey. Johanna catches Dawn in her room smoking, which she has done for well over a year. Johanna then makes it absolutely clear to her daughter and her girlfriend that her main concern has always been the media's perception of the kiss, and shows evidence of this by watching news coverage of the kiss. Dawn is brought to tears, and Zoey essentially suggests that they hide out with her family on vacation in the Seafoam islands.

NOTE: Folks, this update contains the most canon names (and nicknames) to the story since chapter two. They are mostly members of Zoey's family, but there is another name added in the mix. Can you guess who it is? Ages are also included.

Adam Samuel "Adman" Neale (Zoey's father, 49)

Josephine Alice Baker "Jo-Jo" Neale (Zoey's mother, 50)

Rebecca Rochelle "Rocky" Neale (Zoey's older sister, 24)

Kevin Christopher "K.C." Neale (Zoey's older brother, 21)

Cornelius Michael Daniel "Corey" Neale (Zoey's younger brother, 14)

Michelle Aubrey "Mikey" Neale (Zoey's younger sister and Corey's twin sister, 14)

William Paul Percival Warrick, 17

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 7- Vacation Part 1: Family Does Matter)

* * *

"We don't need this type of filth on television," says yet another one of the 'concerned citizens' reacting to the on screen kiss, which is already being labeled by television newscasts as 'Kissgate'. Drew Roderick is sitting in the family room along with Max Maple watching the 9am morning news broadcast in a format that is similar to the Today Show.

"God," Drew sympathetically says. "You gotta feel for Dawn and Zoey, Max. They didn't ask for any of this. And to be a teenager in love and in front of the microscope on top of it? Hell, I wouldn't wish this on my own worst enemy!"

"That's why I wished them good luck before they left for…wherever they are now," Max adds. "I knew that it wouldn't be easy for them to weather this storm, but by no means would I call their love…filth. That's just bullshit."

"Hey," Norman says, coming out of the kitchen of the Maple home, lightly slapping Max on the back of his head. "Watch your language, Max." Norman then gets a good look at the television, and sees the Dawn and Zoey kiss, and turns away in disgust.

"Kids, how could you possibly condone that garbage?" Norman sincerely asks.

"Dad," Max defends, "Dawn and Zoey are good friends of ours…"

"You're actually friends with those…perverts, Max?" Norman inquires.

"They aren't perverts, dad!" Max answers. "They are in love, just like May and Drew, just…different."

"Bull, Max!" Norman overrides.

"What's the matter, dad?" May says coming into the family room and sitting down with Drew.

"Max is trying to legitimize this…debacle and abomination between Dawn and Zoey. Honestly, has that redhead no shame whatsoever?" Norman rhetorically asks. "Gays and lesbians are destroying families and the family unit all over the world, but we can all do our part to stay a strong family unit without the help of radicals that would rather pander to these special interests."

Norman continues, pointing at the screen which is showing footage from the Grand Festival trophy ceremony, where Dawn and Zoey are shown holding hands with affection. "That…behavior might be accepted out there in the world, but if I have anything to say about it, Dawn, Zoey and any other queers, faggots and dykes will have no place whatsoever in _my_ house. Is that understood, you two? I know I don't have to worry about you, May, but Max apparently is on this rebellious kick in an attempt to defend people that quite frankly should be shunned for their actions."

"But, dad…"

"No buts, son!" Norman retorts. "The subject and this conversation are both closed," he concludes, as he goes back into the kitchen. When he is out of hearing, Drew asks Max in his ear, "What in the world is up with your dad?"

Max whispers back to Drew, saying "Mom and dad don't take too kindly to…people who bat for the other team, if you know what I mean."

May is not paying attention to Max and Drew's conversation whatsoever, as her thoughts are clouded with nearly being caught masturbating to her female lover, Kelly, and hearing her father lay down the line concerning that type of behavior in his house.

'Oh, dad,' May thinks, 'I wish you could understand. God, I wish that everyone could understand that I'm just trying to figure out my life, and just what the people in it mean to me. I don't mean to break hearts and I'm _not_ a bad person. Gays, lesbians, and bisexuals aren't bad people, either. I'm just doing…bad things.' To this, May puts her head down for just a second before she tries to quell her sadness by looking at the television once again. The reporters are now focusing on a new story that deals with the Grand Festival, and surprise! This upcoming report has nothing to with Dawn and/or Zoey.

"In the midst of the controversy that surrounds the girl on girl kiss between the giver Zoey D. Neale and the receiver Dawn Berlitz," the anchorman begins, "there was an incredible Kanto Grand Festival final battle which involved May Maple and Dawn Berlitz. May Maple was declared the winner of the bout after the judges debated the results of the final for well over 20 minutes. However, another individual who had his eye on the bout says that the results of the final are not correct, and that the declared winner of the Grand Festival should be different."

The film then switches to Ash Ketchum's comments after the battle, where he gives credible evidence to suggest that the rightful winner of the final should be Dawn Berlitz and not May Maple. May sees all of this occur on the screen, and she becomes absolutely livid, as she is literally shaking in anger. She is pissed, and this does not go unnoticed by Drew and Max sitting on the opposite direction of May.

Finally, something breaks inside of her head, and causes May to snap. "You mother fucking son of a bitch!" May screams as she gets up from the couch and falls to the floor, pounding the hardwood flooring inside of the family room. Drew and Max immediately jump up from their seats and tend to their girlfriend/sister. "You goddamn cunt! You fucking cocksucker! How the fuck could you say I didn't win, Ash Ketchum? Mother Fucker, I won fair and square!"

"May, what the fuck?" Max says, hysterically. "What happened? Settle down, for fuck's sake!"

"May, calm down, please!" Drew asserts, trying to settle her girlfriend. "Look, Ash just gave his opinion! It's not as if they're gonna take it as gospel!"

"And folks, we have breaking news to report on this story," the anchorman continues, as May stops her screaming tirade for a moment. "We've just been informed by the offices of Mr. Raoul Contesta, the director of Pokémon contests, who has told the networks in a press release that they are going to keep the five judges, including him, in the Indigo Plateau area, as the footage will officially be reviewed by them both individually and collectively to find out the true results of the Grand Festival final."

"The offices of Mr. Contesta continued their press release, saying that a copy of the footage will also be taken to the head offices of Pokémon contests in the Kanto region, which is located in Saffron City, to be reviewed by the members of that particular board for any further information to be dissected from the contents of the battle. This network will continue to provide updates on this developing story as they become available." Max then turns the TV off, knowing that the images are only making May very upset.

May then goes from sheer anger to sadness, as she slowly transitions from pounding the hardwood floor to holding her head in her hands and wailing like a child.

"He's trying to take it from me, Drew!" May says like a blubbering child. "The son of a bitch is trying to take what I've worked so fucking hard for over the last 10 years! I won't give him the fucking satisfaction, you understand me? God, I…I just wanna hurt him! I just wanna ring that cunt's neck so badly, and watch the life seep out if his body. I hate him. I HATE HIM!!"

"May!" Drew exclaims to his girlfriend, "I'll say it again; he's just giving his opinion, and that's what he was paid to do was tell people what's on his mind. He doesn't want to sabotage you! He's your friend. He's _our_ friend!"

"That's no fucking friend of mine!" May responds. "I hate that son of a bitch!"

"Don't say that, May!" Max retorts, almost in tears. "God Drew, what the fuck are we gonna do?"

"I don't know, Max," Drew admits, with his voice breaking. "I'm scared. May? Honey? Listen to me," he says, attempting to console his girlfriend by hugging her tightly. "Listen to me. You don't hate Ash Ketchum."

"LIAR!" May screams, as Norman and Caroline run into the room mere seconds afterwards to see the sight of their only daughter screaming and crying on the floor while being held by Drew and consoled by her younger brother.

"What in the world is going on here?" Caroline asks. "What's the deal with all the screaming, and why is May on the floor crying?" she continues, going over to join Drew and Max in an attempt to console May. Norman quickly follows in his wife's footsteps.

"She saw Ash's comments on the TV," Drew explains to the Maple parents. "The ones where he said that he didn't think that May actually won the Grand Festival, and…she just lost it. I'm trying to explain to her that that was just Ash talking, and it wasn't meant as a personal slight in her direction."

"Look, May," Norman says to her daughter, "you just have to have faith that this whole thing will blow over. You are the Grand Festival champ right now, and in my mind, nothing will change that."

"I know that, dad," May says, really in an attempt to get her loved ones off of her back. She is still in tears, crying and blubbering as she says the words 'Ash Ketchum' and 'hate' almost as if she was in a trance. In the midst of this confusion, a knock on the front door of the Maple house grabs the attention of all the people inside of the house.

"Drew," Norman tells his daughter's boyfriend, "could you tell whoever that is at the door that now is not a good time, please?"

"Certainly, Mr. Maple," Drew answers, as he goes to the window next to the front door and surprisingly sees a long black limousine outside. Drew quickly goes to open the door and finds…

"Kelly?"

Kelly is shocked to find the door open and May's boyfriend Drew on the other end. So much so that she does not respond to his greeting for almost five seconds. Drew doesn't scold her for this as he too is shocked to see the coordinator turned businesswoman at the doorstep.

"I'm sorry. Drew?" Kelly had planned on surprising her secret lover May by paying her a visit while she was home. Kelly had caught May at a near perfect time earlier, as she e-mailed the girl a very sexual picture of herself, along with a letter of congratulations while she was occupied with her morning workout. The e-mail was somewhat of a red herring to make her think that Kelly would get back with May or vice versa to work out a future date so that Kelly could come over for a visit, and maybe some fun.

"Hey! How've you been?" Drew says, pulling the purple haired coordinator in for a hug. Kelly finally loses her look of shock and reluctantly returns the hug.

"I've been…taking care of myself as best as I can, Drew," Kelly answers slowly.

"Truth be told, I'm really glad you're here. May's been a real mess for the last several minutes, and none of us know why."

"Why?" Kelly asks, suddenly concerned for her lover. "What happened?"

"It had to do with some comments that Ash Ketchum made about how he thought that May didn't really win the Grand Festival. Her family and I have been at a loss trying to figure out what to do. You're one of her best friends. Maybe you can help cheer her up. Come on in."

Kelly is led into the entrance of the living room by Drew. "Hey May," Drew calls out. "Someone is here that can help you cheer up."

"Who?" She asks in a whisper while still shaking.

"Kelly? Come on in here!" Drew says and sure enough, the purple haired girl comes out from hiding and reveals herself to May. Seeing Kelly inside of her house caused May to snap.

"AHHH!! NOOO!!" she screams in an absolutely terrified state. Confronted with the one person that she would say knows her inside and out, and the one person that could cause her to lose her boyfriend and family was just too much for the Maple girl to handle.

"Oh God, no!" May communicates while wailing. "I can't lose my family! I don't wanna lose my family! Damn you, Ash Ketchum! Damn you to hell! This is your fucking fault! I hope you're proud of yourself, mother fucker!"

"What is she talking about, Norman? What does she mean when she says, 'I can't lose my family'?" Drew asks.

"I don't know. I don't know!" Norman replies, not caring that Drew didn't use honorifics.

Her friends and relatives try everything to try and calm her down, but nothing they can do or say has been effective on May. After about two minutes, May begins to uncontrollably shake and convulse, and Norman begs someone to "Call 911!" as he goes to hold her daughter's hand and keep her from flailing out in her mysterious convulsion. Drew hurries to the telephone and makes the call to have an ambulance come to the Maple house to assist the ill Grand Festival champion.

* * *

At about 1pm on Monday afternoon, Dawn walks out of the front porch of the house carrying the last two of her many bags to the trunk of the Ferrari F430, located on the front of the vehicle. Johanna is already outside with Zoey to make sure that the trunk is not overstocked with too much junk like she tried when she first started her journey six years ago.

"All set to go, dear?" Johanna asks.

"Yeah, mom," Dawn answers. Johanna holds her daughter by the shoulders and gets her to look her square in the eyes.

"Now listen to me, in all seriousness, Dawn," Johanna begins. "You've got one or two weeks to not only meet with the Neale family, but to truly bond with Zoey and get to know her at that…extra special level. Have fun. Stay safe—both of you, and remember," Johanna starts to tear up.

"Oh mom," Dawn says before she goes to pull her mother into a big hug. "Don't worry. I'll be in good hands."

"Dawn…" Johanna begins.

"I know. I know, mom. It's when I say don't worry that you worry the most, but this time, I mean it."

"Remember that I love you unconditionally, Dawn," Johanna concludes while still in an embrace with her daughter.

Zoey comes close to the pair, and says, "That makes two of us, Dawn. Mind if I join in?"

Johanna sees the genuine concern in the eyes of Zoey, and silently signals that it's okay for Zoey to join them in what is now a group hug. After a while, the two let go of each other, and Johanna gives her daughter a kiss before Dawn goes to the passenger's door of the luxury sports car. Johanna and Zoey are now outside of the car by themselves.

"Take care of my girl, okay Zoey?" Johanna says, bringing out her right hand. Zoey returns the gesture in kind, as the pair shake hands.

"Yes, ma'am," Zoey says, as Johanna surprisingly comes close to Zoey and gives her a kiss on her left cheek. Zoey touches the cheek, and looks at Johanna, as she begins to turn a noticeable red, much like her signature hair.

"Johanna?" Zoey questions.

"What?" Johanna inquires. "You did idolize me growing up. Are you sure you didn't have a crush on me then?"

Zoey shakes her head, and says, "I'm not gonna answer that. Good-bye Johanna," Zoey says as she goes to leave for the front driver's side of her Ferrari. Zoey says before entering the car, not turning to face Johanna, "I won't lie. I've always thought you were very sexy, even before I knew what that meant, but…" she says, turning to Johanna, "I've already got my girl." Zoey flashes the older woman a smile, puts her sunglasses, then opens the door, and gets into the car, closes it, turns on the ignition and drives off to Snowpoint City.

Johanna then says, as the Ferrari drives off into the distance, "Godspeed, you two," as she heads into her home once more.

* * *

The drive to Snowpoint City takes nearly four hours, and Dawn fell asleep after about the third hour.

"Hey, Dawn," Zoey says, waking up her girlfriend, "We're almost here."

Dawn shakes the sleep out of her eyes. "We are?"

"Yes indeed. I called ahead, so my parents know that we're on our way. There's…one problem, though."

"What's that?" Dawn asks, curiously.

"My parents, and as far as I know the other members of my family know that you are coming with me on this trip as a friend, but…"

"They don't know that you and I are girlfriends, right?"

"Exactly," Zoey answers. "Dinner tonight is gonna be…mom buying something like four extra-large pizzas, and the whole family is just gonna pig out before we take off early Tuesday morning for the Seafoam Islands."

"My plan is that we'll break it to them either during or after dinner, but not before, because I don't know when the rest of the family is gonna show up. My younger brother Corey could be playing video games with his friends one last time before we take off, and Mikey, well…it's hard to say how Mikey might be spending this last afternoon. She could be playing soccer, or street hockey, or…"

"Wait. Time out," Dawn says, making the 'T' symbol. "Mikey is a _girl_?"

As Zoey explains, "Her real name is Michelle, but the only people that call her that are people with a death wish. May I ask you something, Dawn?" Dawn nods in a silent 'yes'. "Would you consider me a tomboy?"

Dawn chuckles lightly. "Zoey. Have you checked yourself in the mirror in the last six years or so? You wear tuxedos to contests; most of the time you dress like a guy, and…fuck yeah! You are a tomboy!"

"Get that out of your system before you go to my parent's house. The language, that is," Zoey warns. "Well, I might consider myself a tomboy, but I can't hold a birthday candle to Mikey. She is the biggest tomboy that has or will ever exist. I swear to God, if she can ever find a guy to marry her, he'll be the one that will wear the dress."

"Come on," Dawn says, not believing Zoey's story.

"It's true. I think the last time she wore a dress was at the behest of my mother when she and dad got their vows renewed, and this was about seven years ago. The girl is a huge jock, too. She plays every sport imaginable, and beats all of the boy's asses in them to boot." Zoey immediately notices the turnoff into the neighborhood where her parents live, and makes a left turn. "Just about two more minutes to go, and you get to meet the family. You remember my mom, right? She was there when I won my first Grand Festival."

"Jo-Jo Neale?" Dawn inquires.

"That's her."

"Question, though," Dawn wonders. "Why did you call your father 'Adman' on the phone?" Zoey sees that she is getting closer to the destination, and she tells Dawn, "Well, why don't you ask him yourself? We're here." Dawn takes a look at the large house that Zoey's parents own, that dwarfs her humble abode by comparison. Zoey parks the Ferrari into the three car garage right next to the Neale's yellow Hummer H2, which is loaded with several bags on its roof top. Zoey and Dawn exit the car, and enter the house in the garage door, foregoing removing any luggage of Dawn's from the trunk of the vehicle, located on the front of the car.

As Zoey checks the door to see if it's locked or not, she finds that the door is indeed unlocked. Zoey opens the door and signals for Dawn to enter the house first with Zoey soon to follow behind her. Upon entering the house, Zoey is encountered by two faces that she had a feeling she would see running about the house in great commotion.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Zoey says.

"Zoey!" they say, as Zoey runs to both of her parents, who interrupt whatever it was they were doing. Zoey gives each one a big hug, and Jo-Jo being the first, and Adman the next to get a hug from his daughter.

"Ohh, it's so good to see you both!" Zoey says. "I have so much to tell you all--everyone." Zoey then turns to Dawn's direction, and signals her to come forward. "Mom? Dad? This is Dawn Berlitz, the girl that beat me in the semifinals of the Grand Festival yesterday, though she did lose the finals in quite a close match. Dawn? These are my parents. This is my father Adam Neale; close friends call him 'Adman'. He works for the Silph Company as an advertising executive, and that's my mother, who you have met in the past. She's Josephine Neale, but you already know her as Jo-Jo the schoolteacher."

Dawn steps forward to shake the hands of her girlfriend's parents, and tells them "It's a pleasure to meet you both. Even though Zoey and I don't travel together, she has said very much about you two."

"Say. What's the commotion going on here…" says a voice that enters into the family room after hearing a conversation between several people. It is the Neale family's oldest son, Kevin Neale, also known as K.C., who spots his younger sister in the room. That much he expected, but what he did not expect to see was Dawn Berlitz standing right next to her. He, unlike his parents and possibly his other siblings as well, knew about the controversy that surrounded the two girls over the last day or so.

"Zoey?" K.C. says, as he walks up to his sister, and gives her a hug.

"How've you been, K.C.?" she asks, returning the gesture.

K.C. comes down to his sister's level and plainly whispers in her ear, "What the heck is _she_ doing here?"

"I'll explain everything during dinner tonight, all right?" Zoey answers with her own whisper. She continues, saying "Now everyone _is _gonna be at dinner tonight as far as you know, right?"

K.C. does not whisper this part into Zoey's ear, only saying 'yes' out loud. Zoey tells Dawn that the young man is his older brother.

"Where are the twins, mom?" Zoey inquires. "Are they gonna be joining us for our last dinner before we take off?

"Yeah…_Domi_. They should be here any minute now," Jo-Jo says. Zoey rolls her eyes.

"Mom, you know I don't like it when you or anyone else for that matter calls me that!" Zoey says, whining.

"Domi, Zoey?" Dawn asks, while chuckling.

As Zoey explains, "Mom thinks that all of her children should have nicknames, and that just happens to be mine, but only my family calls me by my nickname."

"But I don't get it," Dawn honestly admits. "I understand K.C. from Kevin, and Mikey from Michelle, but…where does Domi come from?"

"It comes from my middle name, Domenica, Dawn," Zoey says, with that all she seemingly wants to reveal about her nickname origin.

"Oh," Dawn exclaims. "Kind of like Rachael Ray, right?"

"Maybe," another voice says, this time coming from another hallway, "but don't ask Zoey to prepare a full meal in 30 minutes or less. It'll take six hours, and the house will have burnt down." Zoey gets a look at the person coming out of the other hallway, and could not believe her eyes.

"No!" Zoey says in absolute disbelief. She runs up to the figure at the front door, and says "Rocky?"

"Hey, sis!" Zoey literally jumps into her older sister's arms, and gets caught in a huge bear hug from the oldest Neale sibling Rebecca 'Rocky' Neale. "Does this mean that you're joining us on vacation?" Rocky gives Zoey a nod.

"Awesome!" Zoey says with excitement as she pulls Rocky into the living room. "Dawn, this is my oldest sister, Rocky. Rocky, this is my friend, Dawn. She's gonna be vacationing with us for the next week or so."

As Dawn shakes Rocky's hand, she remembers just where she has seen Rocky from in the past. "Hi there. Don't you work for 'Pokémon Coordinator's Weekly' magazine?"

"Yes, I do," Rocky answers, trying to find out in her head why Zoey would invite Dawn to vacation with the rest of the family.

"I remember that they did a special a few years back on second generation coordinators, and I was interviewed by some people at your magazine," Dawn recollects.

"Hey, could someone explain to me why a pizza delivery guy just pulled up to our house with five pizzas?" yet another voice calls, coming in from outside. It was one of the twins, Cornelius "Corey" Neale, who was wearing a hat, cargo shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and was the only member of the family that wore glasses.

"More introductions, I suppose," Zoey thinks out loud. "Dawn, meet my younger brother Corey. Corey, this is my good friend, Dawn. She's going on vacation with us this year." While doing the introduction, the pizza deliverer came to the front door, and Jo-Jo paid the man, giving him a very healthy tip of 20.

"Hi there, Corey," Dawn says, giving Corey a handshake.

"Wow!" Corey says. "I hope you don't mind me saying this Dawn, but you're quite cute. I'm glad you're gonna be on vacation with us. Zoey's said quite a lot about you over the phone."

Zoey twitched when she heard her brother call her girlfriend 'cute', and when she saw that Corey and Dawn were still shaking hands, and Corey was giving off a flirtatious glance to the Twinleaf native, Zoey stopped the madness with an inconspicuous 'ahem'. Dawn and Corey halted their glazes towards each other and turned to Zoey while still in a handshake. Dawn, by simply looking into the eyes of Zoey could tell what was up and immediately let go of the handshake with Corey.

"Okay, kids," Jo-Jo says, regaining control. "I called you all here to come at about 5:30 pm, and just about everyone is here, so all of you go wash your hands and we'll sit down to eat, okay?"

"Mom," Rocky asks, curiously, "what about Mikey? Where is she?" Zoey and the other Neale siblings also question the location of the youngest member of the Neale family by about three minutes, as Corey and Mikey are twins. Those questions are answered as everyone inside of the house hears a very loud and drawn out call of 'Geronimo!' from outside.

Every member of the Neale family, including Dawn goes outside and witnesses it. The youngest Neale is outside on her skateboard, and going downhill. The only problem with this scenario is that she is skateboarding while she is in a handstand position with the board and Mikey in quick motion. Even though this is a very dangerous activity, she is not scared, wearing along with all of the recommended safety equipment, a big, big smile. When she makes it halfway down the paved hill, she falls off of the skateboard, and rolls through the remainder of the hill, tumbling about 30-40 times, before she stops at the driveway of her house.

Jo-Jo and Adman are not surprised, but then again, Mikey has done much crazier stunts than a handstand on a skateboard. Rocky and K.C. are failing in their attempt to not giggle like an infant that apparently saw something amusing. They wonder what she will think of next, and what type of injuries she will suffer because of it.

Mikey is scraped and somewhat bloodied, but after a moment to collect herself, Mikey stands up and gives a peace sign to the expanded audience before she notices new and familiar faces.

"Zoey?" a noticeably deep voice says, "Oh my God! How are you doing, sis?" she continues, and just like mom, dad, K.C., and Rocky before her, Zoey gets a hug from her sibling.

'Mikey gives the most rib crushing hugs of them all,' Zoey thinks. Zoey may be larger than the average girl her age at five feet and eight inches tall, but much like her childhood girlfriend May, she cannot compare to her sister, who is just below 5'11" tall, even though she is only 14 years old.

While May has a body more suited for Miss Olympia, Mikey Neale is the epitome of an athlete. She is significantly slimmer, and while less muscularly defined, she is more toned and lengthy for athletic competition.

"I'm all right, Mikey. Listen," Zoey says, mostly to get the attention of her affectionate sister. She points to Dawn, and signals her to come over. "That's Dawn Berlitz. She's gonna be vacationing with us."

"Oh yeah!" Mikey remembers, shaking Dawn's hand. "I've seen you in Pokémon contests several times. That's all right and everything, but I'm more of a gym battles type myself."

"Well, why aren't you out there on your own journey like Zoey and I?" Dawn asks.

"Two reasons, actually," Mikey admits. "I'm banned from training Pokémon until I turn Zoey's age due to an incident with a Western Shellos when I was eight years old. You see, I was quite the hyperactive child at the time, and I accidentally stretched it too far, and it suffered some severe injuries, so I was banned due to negligence. The Shellos is in good hands, though. Right Zoey?"

"Shellos, curtain!" is all that Zoey says, as sure enough out comes from her pokeball a pink (Western) Shellos which can stretch to unimaginable distances.

"That's right, Mikey. The family took care of Shellos until it was time for me to go on my own journey."

"So, that explains how Shellos can stretch to great distances," Dawn says as Zoey recalls Shellos back into its pokeball. "But what's the other reason why you aren't training. You did say there were two."

"Mom and dad said," Mikey begins, "that I could either participate in team sports or battling, and I love sports, you know? I'm not gonna give up kicking boy's butts on the soccer field that easily. Just seeing them cry to their mommies gives me a huge…I love it, you know?"

"All right, kids," Adman says while inside of the front door of the house calling out to all of his siblings and Dawn to inform them that, "dinner is ready. Come inside, and let's eat, and then we can finalize our packing process." Everyone with the exception of both Dawn and Zoey go right inside to eat.

Zoey tells Dawn, "I think that K.C. has a feeling that we are more than just friends. He probably saw our kiss, and wanted to get to the bottom of why you are here."

"I got that same feeling looking at Rocky in particular," Dawn admits. "The fact that her work deals almost exclusively in coordinating makes me wonder, too."

Zoey sighs. "We're just gonna have to break the news to mom, dad and the others tonight. I'm antsy just thinking about it, but the blow should be softened in this case, because everyone already knows that I'm a lesbian."

"Hey, Dawn! Zoey!" Corey calls from the front door. "Don't be shy! There's plenty to go around. Come on in!" Dawn walks to the door, which is opened by Corey so that she can enter in. Dawn thanks him by patting his hair. Corey goes back into the kitchen grinning like a Cheshire cat once Dawn has passed, leaving Zoey to have to open her own door.

"Some gentleman," Zoey scowls as she goes to the bathroom to wash her hands for the upcoming dinner.

* * *

After about five minutes or so, all seven members of the Neale family and Dawn are well in the process of chowing down on pizzas with toppings such as the always reliable pepperoni (Jo-Jo and Mikey's favorite), the scintillating and spicy sausage (K.C.'s favorite), the refined and defined vegetarian (Rocky's favorite), the bold, bulky and piled meat lover's (Adman's favorite) and finally, because you can never have too much of a good thing, there is Zoey's (and as she would come to find out, Dawn's) favorite, extra cheese.

Conversations between all of the various parties bounded together by blood are taking place. Some of great importance, such as what to do during the vacation, and some idle chatter such as Mikey bragging to Corey and K.C. about how she scored five goals in soccer against an all boy's team. But one conversation in particular is very heated, though nobody else at the table really notices it.

Girlfriends Dawn and Zoey are sitting next to each other, debating back and forth about how they can break the news to the rest of the Neale family that they are not friends rather they are really a couple. The two are whispering suggestions back and forth.

Zoey says that 'We should just tell them. Don't beat around the bush, don't allude and don't stall. Just tell them, and I know they'll understand.' After some convincing, Dawn finally agrees, but the back and forth conversation has finally attracted an audience in Jo-Jo and Adman.

"Having a nice conversation, girls?" Adman asks. Dawn and Zoey turn to the family patriarch and nervously chuckle. They silently decide to end whatever speculation that might have existed in the minds of the Neale family.

"Umm…" Zoey begins. "Mom? Dad? Everyone? Dawn and I have something important to tell you. I…sort of lied to you when I said that I was bringing a friend with us on vacation."

"What do you mean, Zoey?" Jo-Jo asks. "Dawn isn't a friend of yours?"

"No. That's not it," Zoey says beginning the clarification process. "Dawn is a friend, but to me…Dawn is much, much more than just a friend." Adman, along with the rest of the Neale family is really starting to hang on the words that Zoey is speaking.

"Everyone here already knows that I am a lesbian, right?" Zoey's family members either nod or say 'yes' to the posed question. "Well Dawn is here because she needed to lay low after an incident before the Grand Festival Final yesterday when I, well…it's kinda hard to say, to be honest."

"Zoey?" Dawn asks. "Maybe instead of telling them, we should show them," she says, smiling and raising her eyebrows.

"Okay, everyone," Zoey calmly speaks. "The reason Dawn is here with me is because," Zoey and Dawn come together for the first time in a while (to them, though; It had only been about six hours or so) and they passionately kiss, though restrain themselves as they are in the presence of watchful eyes. Neither Dawn nor Zoey look at the Neale family's faces while they kiss, but if they did, they would see looks of shock, indifference, happiness, and disappointment. Once the couple ended their kiss, they looked to the Neale family and said…

"We're girlfriends," in unison. Zoey takes a hold of Dawn's near hand and continues, saying, "We're in love with each other. I told Dawn that I loved her right before the Grand Festival on air, and…not too many people were pleased that I did that. Dawn was pretty upset to see news coverage that called the confession a disgrace, so after some time I suggested that she come with us and get away from everything in the hopes that the media coverage would ebb. And…that's all I've got to say."

For a few seconds, everyone in the Neale family is speechless, until Corey finally breaks the silence, saying "Aww, man! Why are all the good ones always gay…or taken, or gay _and_ taken?" Zoey can only laugh nervously at her younger brother's lack of a love life.

* * *

A/N: You know how Corey feels about it (yes, he does have a crush on Dawn, and no that is not the last you'll see of it), but what about the rest of the family? Remember those emotions of shock, indifference, happiness and disappointment? Try and guess which parents and siblings feel like that. You'll find out in the next chapter, as the Neale family takes off for vacation!

And with May hospitalized and her family, boyfriend and mistress there, the many elements could play out to be combustible, but would you believe that it's Max who has to deal head on with issues of his own? And what happens when the main players (Ash, Dawn, Zoey, et al.) find out about May's hospitalization?

Find out on the next chapter of the story formerly known as 'Overcoming the Odds', now known as 'A Confession Gone Awry'!


	8. Vacation: Misty in the Morning

A Confession Gone Awry

May Maple is driven to the brink by a combination of some remarks from her father Norman, the now infamous comments from Ash Ketchum, and seeing her mistress of six years, Kelly, and she suffers a major panic attack. Attempts from her family to calm her down fail, as she begins to convulse. Norman sees no other option but to call 911 and have them help his daughter.

Zoey and Dawn travel to Zoey's hometown of Snowpoint City, so that Dawn can meet Zoey's entire family before they go to the Seafoam Islands. Dawn comes face to face with the many different personalities of the Neale family siblings and parents. During a pizza dinner before the final takeoff, Dawn and Zoey tell the rest of the family that they are in a lesbian relationship. Corey, the youngest boy, takes it especially hard, as he started to develop feelings for Dawn after hearing so much about her from Zoey, and seeing her for the first time.

NOTE: This update contains three new canon names.

Delia Simone Crass-Ketchum, 41

Melissa Willow "Misty" Waterflower, 24

Gary Anderson Hobbes Oak, 22

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 8- Vacation Part 2: Misty in the Morning)

* * *

"Well, Zoey? I've gotta say this," says Adman Neale, attempting to quell laughter after Corey's remark concerning Dawn's relationship with his older sister. "Your mother and I eventually came around when you told us that you were a lesbian about three years ago." Adman then puts his arm around his wife's shoulder. "We knew that this day would come, when you would come home with a girlfriend, and…this didn't really come as much of a shock as if you would've brought out the double whammy of you coming out of the closet and Dawn being your girlfriend."

Jo-Jo continues, "I've seen Dawn before, of course. And…she's a very respectable young lady. I think that you've made a great choice, Zoey, and I wish you and you're girlfriend nothing but the best. Dawn? Come here." Dawn points to herself in half confusion, and slowly gets up from her seat, and walks over to Jo-Jo, who asks her to come down a bit to her level.

Jo-Jo then takes her hands, and gently holds Dawn's shoulders, saying "My daughter is a very special person to me, and a very special person to all of us. You're absolutely sure that she is just as special to you, Dawn?"

Dawn sincerely smiles to Jo-Jo, and answers, "I'm sure of it, Jo-Jo. To be honest, I wish I would have known about Zoey's feelings a while ago. She's a great friend, and…now, she's an even greater girlfriend. I haven't been this happy in a long time, and it's all because of Zoey." Jo-Jo then pulls Dawn in for a hug, and whispers in Dawn's ear 'take care of each other', to which Dawn gives Jo-Jo an 'okay' sign. She then releases the hug and sits back down with her girlfriend.

"Well, you know," Kevin begins, "I knew about the situation that kind of forced Dawn and Zoey to come with us on vacation. I saw the kiss on the Sunday evening news, and…I was nervous for you both, but I knew that if Zoey chose Dawn, that Dawn had to be someone very special. If it's my support that you're asking for," K.C. continues, "then I give it to you. I love my baby sister, and only want what's best for her, and if that means that you want to be with Dawn, Zoey, then I'm fine with it. I don't care that you're gay, but I do care about your safety. And, that's all _I _have to say," K.C. concludes.

"Rocky," Adman says, wanting to get the attention of the oldest Neale sibling. "Tell Zoey and Dawn how you feel about their admission."

"Are you…are you kidding me, Zoey?" asks Rocky. "You're actually involved with Dawn Berlitz?"

"No, this isn't a joke," Zoey says with great confidence. "This is as real as real can get between the two of us."

"Why the hell would you date this…slut?"

"HEY!" Jo-Jo, Adman and Zoey exclaim. "Rocky, we've taught you better than to call people names!" Jo-Jo adds. "Apologize to Dawn, NOW! She is a guest in our house, and an invited guest for our vacation, so even if you don't like her personally, you're gonna learn to respect her, Rocky!"

"Mom, you don't understand!" Rocky defends. "I work for the Pokémon coordinator's magazine. I'm a reporter, and I see some of the stuff that goes on in contests all over the world." Rocky then points to Dawn. "This…_girl_ has been involved with about ten different guys over the years. Nando, Paul, Derek, Lucas, and the list just goes on and on and on." Rocky then turns to her younger sister.

"Zoey, trust me on this one," Rocky says consolingly. "Dawn is bad news."

"Screw you, Rocky," Zoey says with spite. "I oughta come over there and kick your ass for saying that crap. What the fuck do you know—"

"Cool it, Zoey," Adman says, pointing a finger at the Neale family's middle child. "Despite how you might feel about your sister and her comments, that's no excuse for you to use your own hateful speech. Do not use that language at this table, and that goes for the rest of you, too. Do you understand me?"

"I'm sorry, sir. You're right. Rocky got me mad, but that's no excuse," Zoey atones. Rocky? What I meant to say was that I know that Dawn has had several boyfriends. I have been one of her best friends for over six years, so I've also gotten to know her many boyfriends, but what you probably don't know is that most of them were pieces of crap. Okay? While you were out there doing your 'research', did you ever once question Dawn about her involvement with any of these guys?" Rocky is silenced by this question from her younger sister.

"Dawn told you that the only time that you have _ever_ spoken to her was for an interview that involved second generation coordinators several years back, and you said that you agreed. So…are you trying to say that much of your information is pure hearsay, or—what is it exactly about Dawn that turns you off? She has no other skeletons in her closet that I know about, and every time that we talk she has been nothing but honest to me about this stuff."

"Zoey," Rocky says, beginning her retort.

"No, Rocky. The only thing that I wanna hear out of your mouth before anything else is that you apologize to Dawn for calling her that name without any basis aside from hearsay to go behind it. Understood?" Zoey interjects.

Rocky knows that she's beat, and finally decides to give in. "I'm sorry, Dawn for calling you a slut. Zoey, the reason why I don't accept you being with Dawn is because I want what's best for you, and I don't think that Dawn is it."

"Well, with all due respect, Rocky," Zoey answers, "I should know what's best for me, and I do think that what's best for me is Dawn. I don't know if you realize it, or are willing to accept it, but I'm growing up into my own woman. For God's sake, Rock! I'm 16 years old, now! You've had boyfriends dating back to the age of 12, so have no basis for judging Dawn for going out in the world and living her life."

Zoey continues, saying, "I'm going to make my own choices that you, mom, dad, or the others aren't going to be entirely in favor of, but I'm still gonna make them, nevertheless. And you wanna know why?" Zoey asks rhetorically. "Because I do think that I know what's best for me, and I do think I've found it in Dawn. I'm not a little kid anymore, Rocky. I don't need my big sister to hold my hand for me anymore."

Rocky takes a deep breath, and puts her left hand over her face for a few seconds. "Mom? Dad? May I be excused?"

"No, Rocky," Adman answers. "I think that you don't…"

"Go ahead, Rocky," Jo-Jo interrupts.

"Jody?"

"Let her go, Adman," Jo-Jo responds.

Adman sees that he has been overruled by Jo-Jo, and tells Rocky, "You're excused, Rocky." Rocky gets up from the table, and pushes her seat back in before taking a look at Dawn and Zoey once more.

"I still think you're making a big mistake, Zoey."

"You _think_ I'm making a big mistake, but you don't _know_, Rocky," Zoey retorts. "Nobody knows." Rocky does not respond to Zoey, except to turn away from Zoey, Dawn and the rest of the family, and heads for her room to finish packing and to go to bed early.

"Well, Zoey. You already know how I feel," Corey says. "I think that Dawn is a great choice for you and I wish you nothing but the best, but I don't think I'll ever understand why she's gay."

"Because I want to be, bottom line," Dawn says, looking directly into Corey's eyes.

"Isn't it rude to pry, son?" Adman asks trying not to snicker.

"Maybe," Corey answers, "but it's unfair to keep my feelings in the dark for that much longer." Corey then looks across the table at the blue-haired coordinator. "Dawn Berlitz, I have a crush on you. There, I said it," Corey says, getting up from his seat. "I have a crush on my lesbian sister's lesbian girlfriend, and I think that's great for you, but that _sucks_ for me!" Corey ended his confession with yelling, to which nobody scolded him. He took a few breaths, and then said, "Excuse me, please." Corey then runs to his room and starts to sniffle in tears.

"I'll go talk to him," K.C. says, being the third sibling to leave the dining room table. Zoey and Dawn have one final opinion to hear, and that opinion comes from the baby of the Neale family, Mikey.

"So…just to clarify, you two are in a romantic relationship, just like mom and dad?" Mikey asks.

"Yes," both Dawn and Zoey reply.

It is here where Mikey slowly but surely starts to smile widely upon hearing this news from her older sister, as stars begin to form in her eyes like an anime fan girl. "Oh my God! That is so cute! You two look fantastic together! Oh!" Mikey then gets up from her seat and hugs both girls. "Congratulations to both of you! This is great, really. I'm so glad that you've found someone who loves you, Zoey, and same to you, Dawn."

"Thanks, Mikey," Dawn answers. "I'm glad that just about everyone in your family is truly happy for us. But I don't know about Rocky and Corey."

"They'll come around, Dawn. Trust me," Adman assures. Jo-Jo shows her agreement with her husband by nodding.

Zoey asks her parents, "Can Dawn and I step outside for a moment, daddy?"

Adman tells Zoey 'yes', and Dawn and Zoey become the fourth and fifth persons to leave the dinner table. Zoey opens the front door for Dawn to leave for outside first, and then Zoey soon follows, closing the front door behind her.

Once outside, and able to breathe in the early summer air, Zoey breaks the silence, saying "I was wondering if you wanted some time to talk and…I guess smoke a cigarette?"

"Oh, thanks, but you didn't have to go through that trouble for me just so I could smoke."

"I didn't," Zoey says, matter-of-factly. "I also wanted to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind," she continues, as Dawn pulls out a single cigarette and lighter, and proceeds to light the stick and take one long draw of the tobacco.

"Okay, shoot, Zoey. What did you want to ask me out here that you didn't want your parents or Mikey to know about?"

Zoey looks at her girlfriend and then at the setting sun in the distance, and begins, "Okay. Be honest, Dawn. What do you think about my family?"

Dawn finishes her second puff of the cigarette, and answers, "Your family? To be honest, I think that you have the typical normal, everyday family, Zoey."

Zoey is caught off-guard by Dawn's remarks concerning her family, and in response, snatches the cigarette from Dawn's mouth. "Okay. Either you're fucking joking with me, or these things also fuck with your mind, to boot. The surgeon general should get busy writing hallucinations as one of the diseases caused by smoking. Why don't you quit these, anyway?"

Dawn answers to Zoey, "Well, they really do calm my nerves, and…the other reason is kinda personal."

Zoey brings Dawn close to her by grabbing her waist. "Come on, Dawn. We're girlfriends now. You can talk to me about these things. Remember what I said to you after the Grand Festival? I'll be a listener when you wanna talk."

"I _do_ want to talk," Dawn retorts, "but…not right now. It's gonna take a long time for me to get out everything that I want to tell you, but I will tell you that it has to do with one of my ex-boyfriends."

Zoey laughs for a moment. "It always comes back to your ex-boyfriends, doesn't it? I can't…I couldn't guess which ones you had the most trouble with because you had so many of them." Zoey then remembers the comments from one of her siblings. "Hey Dawn? I'm sorry about what Rocky said to you. You didn't deserve that, no matter what Rocky may or may not have heard about you."

"Eh, fuck it," Dawn shrugs. "Don't give it a second thought, Zoey. I've been called worse than a slut over the years from people that I at one time considered best friends. I know how to deal with people like Rocky. They get off on the reaction, and prey off human emotion, just like the media. They're designed to do that. I guess that's why she works for a magazine. It's funny that my relationship with Rocky started out, well…rocky. Let's just hope that it doesn't remain that way."

"That's the way it has always been with all of the people that I've considered friends in my life," Zoey admits. "Rocky always puts them under the microscope, and is overly critical to a fault. But no matter what, she is my sister, and is very loyal to the family. I just wish that she wasn't as damn overprotective of me as she has been for much of my entire life."

Zoey continues, bringing Dawn back into her arms once more, "Not that being a protector is a bad thing, but you have to let the sheep go out to pasture sometime."

"You don't mind being my protector? Do you, Zoey?" Dawn seriously asks. "I feel like…with all the bullshit I've been through, and will in all likelihood go through after this vacation ends; I need someone who will be there for me. Zoey Domenica Neale, are you that someone?"

Zoey then leans forward, kissing Dawn on the lips once again. Neither of them knows that just above them is a window, where there is the bedroom of one Corey Neale, who is watching this scene between his sister and her girlfriend take place. After a brief spat with his older brother K.C., which consisted of him telling his older brother to get out of his room, Corey stayed in his room for the sole purpose of mulling the lost love of Dawn Berlitz.

After a few minutes, Corey sought to find as many ways as possible to get out of the funk he had about his sister's love interest, and looked around his room for some type of solution. He thought that he found his solution in the window, and looking out of the window to daydream and forget his troubles with love. What he would come to find out, though, is that his dream solution only added problems on top of his further growing list of conflicts.

Corey, much like paper ripped from a notebook, is torn. Indeed, he is very much happy for his sister in that she was able to find love in her good friend of over six years, but on the other hand, Corey can picture Dawn inside of his head, and no matter how he slices it, he cannot pinpoint any sensible reason as to why Dawn is with Zoey, and why Dawn emphatically claims that she, like his sister, is a lesbian.

Upon seeing Dawn and his sister come together in a lip lock for the second time in about eight minutes, Corey does not turn away from the sight in disgust, rather he soliloquizes his thoughts, saying only to himself out loud, "Of all the many different fishes in the sea, colors of the rainbow, and flowers in the garden that are ripe for picking, it seems that I have come across a beautiful and enchanting summer's dawn…that is meant for only one to bear witness to it's beautiful arising. Yet this summer's dawn has arrived to this quaint town accompanied in its midst by…fire. It's a fire that ironically intends to leave this poor soul in darkness for however long I might attempt to pursue the light. It's a familiar fire. It is a friendly fire that has provided its own light as a beacon of hope and life for many years. But no matter the familiarity that I may have with this fire, it is still a fire and a furor nevertheless." Corey then smiles very disturbingly. "Every fire has to be put out, though."

Corey continues, no longer being ambiguous in his approach. "I don't believe for one second that you are gay, Dawn. I don't know what turned you off of guys, if anything, but maybe you need someone to let you know that not all guys are scumbags. If you want someone who can give you everything that you'd want in a boyfriend, I'm your guy, Dawn Berlitz. I want to be, at least." Corey then closes the curtain that covers the window and goes to his bed to lie down for a moment.

* * *

Not once seeing her brother Corey, Zoey continued to kiss Dawn, not minding the smell of tobacco, nicotine, and whatever else tainted the breath of her girlfriend, before she finally let go and told Dawn that she would kill to be her protector, and considered it an honor she would take very seriously as long as they stayed together.

Dawn gives her belle a big hug and says "Thank you, Zoey, but there is one more issue aside from Rocky's disdain towards me, and the media's reaction to us."

"What's that?" Zoey inquires with some confusion.

"Corey," Dawn simply says.

Zoey rubs her chin thoughtfully, and considers her brother's impact on their relationship. "Honestly, dear, I wouldn't think too much of Corey right now. It's just an adolescent crush, after all. And I'm very sure that what we have is real. Now let's go inside before my parents think that we've gone to elope."

"Before we do that," Dawn halts, failing in her attempt to not laugh at Zoey's quip. "Let me check the messages on my phone. I can't believe that I've kept it off for this long." Dawn turns on her phone, and finds that she has two messages that she missed while her phone was off. One was a voicemail from her mother Johanna that was labeled as 'non-urgent', and the second one caused Zoey to do a double take.

"Zoey? I got a text message from Max Maple while we were traveling to Snowpoint City."

"Really?" Zoey questions, not expecting a text message from Max for either of them. "Well, what does it say?"

Dawn reads for the very long text and could have been floored with a feather by what she read. "Jesus Christ! May is in the hospital!'

"What?" Zoey asks, now in a state of panic to find that her good friend for whatever reason is in the care of physicians and orderlies. "What the fuck—how? How did it happen?"

"Max is saying that she had a panic attack, and had to be rushed to Petalburg General," Dawn explains.

"Panic…attack?" Zoey wonders out loud. Dawn just nods his head.

"Max goes on to say that she should be fine, but they're keeping her overnight, just to be safe. It happened while the entire family was there, and Drew answered the door and brought Kelly to the living room, and May just lost it."

"Woah, now!" Zoey says not believing for one second what she just heard. "Kelly, as in Kelly Mordetsky is in Petalburg City right now near May and Drew?" Dawn just nods a 'yes' to Zoey. "Drew actually answered the door to the Maple house; let Kelly, the girl who is fucking _his_ girlfriend behind his back, into the house, brought Kelly to May, and she lost it? Is that it in a nutshell, Dawn?"

"Yep," Dawn answers.

Zoey throws her hands up into the air, and looks at Dawn, saying, "My God. If May can come out of this without her relationship with Kelly being made public knowledge, it's the work of outside forces that none of us have any real control of."

Zoey takes her phone and turns it on, saying, "There's got to be more to this story than what Max is letting on. I'm gonna give him a call." Zoey waits for her cell phone to load up, and then presses a few buttons to get the trainer from Petalburg on speed dial. After about four rings, Zoey is forwarded to Max's voicemail, and closes her red RAZR.

'Son of a bitch isn't answering his cell phone,' Zoey ponders to herself. "Let's head back inside and check on my laptop, then we'll get ready for bed and try Max's phone either before we sleep or after we take off tomorrow, okay?" Zoey says, formulating her plan to get to the bottom of the hospitalization of her first girlfriend.

"Deal," Dawn returns kissing Zoey on the cheek, before the two head back into the house, so Zoey can get her items ready for vacation.

* * *

Delia Ketchum has seen many things in her 41 years of life, but the on-screen kiss between Zoey D. Neale and Dawn Berlitz, has to rank either up or near the top of her list of 'what the fuck' moments. Ever since her son Ash returned back home from his guest stint as an interviewer and host of the Kanto Grand Festival, she has been prodding him to tell her just what the story is behind the now infamous kiss.

Mother and son are now in the kitchen together. Ash had been traveling through the Hoenn region once again, but this time, he was traveling to face the seven Frontier Brains that had recently been appointed by Scott for that region. He was able to whisk through the seven Frontier Brains, and defeat the Battle Frontier there, and then was given the call to be a part of the Grand Festival, and knowing most of the participants there, along with the fact that it would be held in his home region, he could not say no.

Knowing that he was disappointing his mom somewhat by previously promising that he would come home much earlier than what is now planned, Ash promised that unlike his many other return trips back home that he would stay for a much longer visit. Ash is now seated for dinner, which tonight includes grilled chicken, steamed asparagus, baked potato, Caesar salad and sparkling cider to celebrate Ash's return home. Dessert is a raspberry and blueberry swirl cheesecake. Delia sits down after filling her plate some three minutes after Ash filled his own.

"You know, Ash, honey," begins Delia, "you've been home for about the last six hours or so, and you still have chosen to not tell me or anyone else for that matter just what in the world happened with that Grand Festival interview?"

"Mom," Ash tells the most important woman in his life, "Honest to God above, I had no idea that Zoey was gonna do that. Hell, I had no idea that Zoey was gay, and she was crushing Dawn for so long, but…looking back on those times, I guess I could see where it came from. But it could've happened to anyone. I mean, come on, mom. Have you seen Dawn? Have you _really _seen Dawn? If the circumstances were different, she might have even turned _you_ lesbian."

Delia can only laugh at her son's answer, but silently agrees with what Ash had to say. "Okay. I'll admit that Zoey has excellent taste in girls, but…Ash," Delia interjects, "hindsight is 20/20. If I had a nickel for anytime someone said 'If I knew then what I know now,' I could buy a house large enough for me to get lost inside of. You say that until you gave it much thought, you had no idea that Zoey is a lesbian, right?"

"Pretty much," Ash responds. "I never traveled with her, so I didn't get to know her like I got to know Misty, May or Dawn."

"Fine," Delia claims, "but do you mean to tell me that you cannot dig into your memory banks and find some…moment, some conversation that you two had that might've suggested, or hinted to Dawn being the type of girl that…batted for the other team?"

Ash chuckles at his mother's analogy, and answers her, saying "No. Nothing ever pointed to her being a lesbian or bisexual, but before any of us jump to conclusions, I've gotta say a couple of things. First off, there is no proof to suggest that Dawn returned the feelings, because I didn't see her after the interview, which ended when she said that she had to speak to Zoey after the kiss and the confession. And the second thing is we should wait, and by 'we', I mean the whole of the media until both Dawn and Zoey come on television and explain their actions."

Delia has to agree with the stance that it does no one any favors to jump to conclusions and tells her son that he's right.

Ash is curious about Delia's opinion on 'kissgate' though, and asks her mother, "Mom? What do you think about the whole thing between Dawn and Zoey?"

Delia shrugs her shoulders and tells Ash, "I have no problem with it, whether they turn out to be a couple or not. You know I have no problem with…" Delia is interrupted by a loud knock at the front door. "It's open! Come in!" Delia yells.

The door opens to find Gary Oak come inside the Ketchum residence. "Hey Ketchums!" he greets, becoming quite familiar with the mother and son combo over the years.

Ash turns to find the body attached to that voice. "Gary!" Ash then gets up from the table and pulls the trainer/researcher into a big embrace. "How are you, man? I thought you were going to be in the Orange Islands for the summer!"

"Nah," Gary replies. "Granddad has this special assignment for Tracey and I that I just couldn't pass up, and that's why I'm here today. Also, I don't know if you've heard, but you traveled with a girl a while back. May was her name, I believe?" Gary asks, giving a questioning glance to the trainer.

"Yeah, she was at the Kanto Grand Festival that I called yesterday. She made it all the way to the finals. Why?" Ash questions.

"She's…" Gary says, having a hard time getting out the news to his friend. "May has been hospitalized with a panic attack, Ash."

"WHAT?" Ash asks, not believing that this has happened.

Delia is almost brought to tears. She really got to know May very well, and would often consider her to be like Misty before her and Dawn after her the daughter that she never had. "Oh, dear Lord. I hope she's all right."

"But, Ash. You have to answer something for me," Gary says, almost demanding that Ash tell him confidential information. "You called the Grand Festival before and after the match. I was able to get back to Grandpa's back in time to see the post match interviews and you said that you didn't believe that May won the Grand Festival, even though the judges declared her as such."

"Woah! Wait a minute!" Ash says getting the hint of exactly what Gary assumes happened to May. "You don't think that just because I said my opinion that May went off the deep end, do you?"

"Well…" Gary begins, not knowing how to answer Ash. "I got this…text message from Max Maple, and he said that May started to have her breakdown when she saw what you said on the air during a morning show earlier today, and that was among several other things."

"Wait a goddamn minute, Gary!" Ash exclaims.

"Ash…" Delia sternly interjects.

"Sorry, mom," Ash apologizes, "but Max Maple doesn't know what the hell he's talking about, if he thinks that me going out on TV and doing my job caused his sister to have a damn panic attack."

"Ash!" Gary yells to give himself the floor back. "Remember, I didn't just say that Max said that it was your comments about the Grand Festival! He ended the text message with the words 'among other things', so you can't automatically assume that you are entirely at fault on this one. It could have been something that she was thinking about that caused her to lose it, and she just happened to be watching your comments at the same time, or she was just was in the same room while your comments were playing."

"And furthermore," Gary continues, "Max does not blame you for the fact that his sister is in the hospital with a panic attack. He just said that May had her panic attack while watching your post match analysis where you said that you didn't think that she won."

Ash looks tentatively at Gary, until his mother breaks the silence, saying "You know Ash, to be brutally honest, Gary does make a great point. Max never said that he placed the onus partially or entirely on your shoulders."

Ash rolls his head for a moment and turns back to the direction of Gary. "Was there anything else that Max said in the text message?"

Gary opens his phone, and pulls up the saved text message that he received from Max earlier, and skims through the message, looking for anything relevant that he might've forgotten to tell Ash. At the very end he finds it, and tells Ash and Delia that "May should be fine, and she's just gonna be kept overnight for precautionary reasons."

Delia shows Gary a smile, and says, "That's good to know. Thanks Gary. Would you like to sit down for dinner? We have plenty to go around."

Gary smiles, and says, "Thanks, Ms. Ketchum! I haven't had a hearty meal in quite some time." Gary goes to sit down, but is admonished by Ash before he can pull out his chair.

"Gary, come on," Ash says, calmed down from thinking that Max had accused him of causing her sister's hospitalization. "I'll hang up your lab coat, and you can make yourself at home." Gary removes his white coat, gives it to Ash, and finally sits down to a prepared plate of home cooked food. Soon after, Gary and Delia are rejoined by Ash.

Once Ash sits down, Gary cannot help but ask him the same question he has been asked since Sunday afternoon. "So Ash, can you tell me what the heck was up with what they're now calling…kissgate between Dawn and Zoey?"

Ash puts his head down on the table and rolls his eyes, not believing that for probably the thousandth time in the last 30 hours or so, he is going to have to tell someone else that he had no idea that the kiss was going to take place. Ash begins his speech deadpan-like, saying "You see, Gary, it goes like this…"

* * *

It's very early Tuesday morning, and the Neale house is now in somewhat of a controlled commotion, as Dawn and the members of the Neale family get their final items and supplies prepared to go into the H2 for a take off at no later than 5:30 a.m. Once all of the family's bags are either in the yellow Hummer, Zoey's red Ferrari, or Adman's black Porsche Cayenne, the Neale's gather round the garage for final instructions, and some talking with other family members about what they are going to do when they reach the Seafoam Islands.

"Alright, family," Adman yells, then whistles to get their attention. "Is everyone ready to take off?" Everyone in the family and Dawn nod their respective heads. "Very well. Now it's time to designate seating arraignments. Now, there are eight of us, and Zoey is determined to take Dawn with her in her Ferrari, so I have no—"

"Actually, Adman," Jo-Jo interjects, putting up her right index finger, "If I could make a request for seating arrangements for this year, because we have a situation that we've never had before with Dawn as our guest, I think that Zoey should take Mikey with her, I'll take Dawn and Rocky in the Hummer, and Adman, you can take the boys with you in the Cayenne. It'll be a great opportunity for all of us to bond prior to going to Seafoam, and I have a few more things that I want to ask about Dawn."

Zoey, Rocky, Dawn, and everyone else for that matter could not believe the unbelievable (some would argue asinine) suggestion that came out of the mouth of the Neale matriarch. They all knew that there was tension aplenty between the eldest of the Neale siblings and the middle child's girlfriend, and thought that keeping them apart as long as they could would benefit everyone that came on this vacation to have a good time, and get away from it all. Adman, K.C. and Corey know Jo-Jo, and know better than to try to argue with her, so they go into the Porsche and get away from any potential arguments.

To Zoey, especially, it was quite a letdown. The drive to the Seafoam Islands is expected to take over nine hours, including rest stops and any other extra activities along the way. It would have been a perfect opportunity for the new couple to bond further, and for Zoey to get to the bottom of Dawn's unlucky streak with past beaus.

In an attempt to regain the privilege of having Dawn sit with her for the travel time, Zoey tried to get her mother to reconsider her 'request', which was more or less codename for 'this is how things are going to be, whether you like it or not'. She said in her most sad and soulful voice she could muster, "But mommy…"

"No buts, Zoey," Jo-Jo exclaims, privy and wise to the tactics that her daughter would often pull to get her way.

"But, mom," Rocky says, not in favor whatsoever of riding with Dawn for what is expected to be longer than a full shift at work.

"No, buts, Rocky," Jo-Jo says. "Your sister tried it and failed, so what makes you think you'll have any measure of success?"

"All we're gonna do is argue, mom! I can already see it!" Rocky defends. "We're gonna be just like oil and water, fire and gasoline, Dennis Miller and Monday Night Football; we just don't mix!"

Jo-Jo quells her desire to laugh at Rocky's last quip, and simply goes up to her ear, whispering, "Rocky, get your tail into this car now, or your trip will wind up being more like a layover in hell. You understand?" Rocky does indeed understand, and goes to the back door, opens it, and sits down on the passenger's side seat.

"Why aren't you trying to stop my mother from making a huge mistake by putting you and Rocky together in the same vehicle?" Zoey questions her girlfriend.

"I really don't want to argue," Dawn reveals. "Jo-Jo, Adman and I seem to get along okay, and I don't wanna mess that up if I don't have to. And…if that means a nine hour car ride with Rocky, then so be it."

Zoey comes close to Dawn and embraces her saying, "Honey, you're braver than a fighter pilot on D-Day." Zoey then kisses Dawn on the forehead, concluding her declaration with a "Good luck…Shannon," as she laughingly tells Mikey to hop into the passenger's side of the Ferrari.

"Shannon is a boy's name, Zoey!" she shouts, laughing to herself, as she goes to sit in the front passenger's side seat of the Hummer.

Jo-Jo admonishes her, saying that "for now, I'd like you to sit in the back with Rocky, okay?" Keeping up with her no whining policy, Dawn does not argue, and takes the driver's side rear seat.

All of the vehicles are ready for take off, and they leave the garage as Adman takes the automatic garage door opener, and closes the doors once more. Adman is in the Porsche with the boys. K.C. is in the rear seat, and Corey is in the front passenger's seat with his dad. There was no argument whatsoever concerning the three of them driving together, but they would be lying if they said that they weren't concerned for the girls in the Hummer.

Zoey is in her Ferrari F430 along with her younger sister, Mikey. Personally, Mikey could have cared less where she got to sit while riding to the Seafoam Islands, but she had to say that she was excited to get to ride in her older sister's Ferrari, a gift that Zoey gave to herself for her 16th birthday. She's only ridden in it one time, but that one time, she traveled to the race track, and tested it out with Zoey, as they drove at speeds over 250 kilometers per hour. She knew that that would not happen this go round, but she was hopeful that they might find a local racetrack to get some laps in during this vacation.

Dawn traveled in the Hummer H2 with Jo-Jo and Rocky, but it might as well have been called a pressure cooker, because of the tension in the vehicle, mainly the tension between herself and Rocky. But now there was apparently some newfound tension between Rocky and Jo-Jo that she saw before she got into the vehicle.

In an effort to break this tension between her and Rocky, Dawn noticed the weather outside. The sun was slightly peaking out of an early cloudy morning, and there was a light mist that seemed to cover Snowpoint City with the slightest hint of dew. "Don't you just love misty mornings, Rocky?" she asks the young woman next to her.

"I like quiet mornings better, thank you," Rocky says with biting sarcasm, not once turning to look at Dawn.

'Rocky Neale certainly is a hard nut to crack,' Dawn thinks to herself. 'This is gonna be a long ass ride if I only have Jo-Jo to talk to.' Dawn comes up with a better solution of spending the first part of this ride sleeping at about 5:45 a.m. so that she can be more energized for the upcoming arrival, scheduled for 3 p.m. at the latest.

* * *

"May? Hey May?" Max asks his sleeping sister early on Tuesday morning. May is in a hospital bed wearing one of the white gowns looking quite peaceful after suffering a panic attack, and slowly opens her eyes, to see her younger brother's smiling face.

"Max?" May asks weakly. "Hi. Oh, God, I'm so weak," she struggles to say, as she starts to cry. "What happened?"

"You had to be stabilized, so they placed a tranquilizer inside of you. Please don't cry, May," Max says forming tears of his own. He then reaches over to May laying in the hospital bed and gave her a hug. "You're gonna be okay, May. Just please try and reconsider the things you said…"

"Excuse me, Master Maple? Miss Maple?" a female orderly says, entering May's hospital bedroom. "There is a visitor who is just outside the doorway that is here not only to see you, May, but also to see you, Max."

"Hold on," Max interrupts, as he took on the task of taking control of visitors while their parents went back home for the night after staying the night with May, and going back home to run the gym. "Let me first see this person before he or she comes to visit May in person, all right?"

The orderly has no problem doing it, and allows Max to go outside of the room, and go to the right end of the fifth floor hallway of the hospital. When he turns around, he sees a sight to truly behold, in a young woman with newly tanned skin, long flowing orange hair, and cerulean blue eyes. She is wearing an ocean colored shirt, and long cargo shorts, and upon the two people seeing each other, they come together, giving each other a big hug, and passionately kissing each other on the lips.

Upon ending their osculation, Max vocally greets the girl, saying "Oh, Misty." Max tears up once again. "I'm so happy that you're here. I wanted to see you sooner—talk to you sooner, I…just wish that it didn't have to be under these circumstances." Max gives Misty another kiss on the lips, with this one being a mere quick peck.

Misty takes a moment to look at Max, and cups both of his cheeks, smiling widely. "You know that I would do anything for you, handsome. I'm just happy that May is gonna be alright."

"Baby," Max begins, "There's been so much shit happening in just the last three days, it's hard to keep up with it all, but I feel that with the role you play in my life, you should know the whole story, and why May is here with a panic attack."

* * *

A/N: Though it's pretty obvious from what you just read, Misty and Max are a couple (it's Masumishipping, BTW). Find out more about the interesting relationship between the 16 year old and the 24 year old in the next chapter.

Kelly is still in Petalburg City, in fact, she is staying with Drew Roderick and the Maple family while May remains in the hospital! How can she respect the wishes of May by not revealing her relationship while the pressure to come clean mounts higher for the Lilycove City businesswoman?

Also, read the hilarity that occurs between Rocky and Dawn as they travel to the Seafoam Islands, and what happens on the first night that the Neale's come to the beach house that causes Dawn to have to reveal a painful part of her past, before she is ready.

All this and more on the next chapter of 'A Confession Gone Awry'!


	9. Vacation: Full Houses

A Confession Gone Awry

Adman and Jo-Jo like it, K.C. is fine with it, but concerned for their safety, Rocky doesn't think Dawn is right for Zoey, Corey has a crush on Dawn, but is trying to put a good face on it, and Mikey adores the new coupling. And oh by the way, they're all going on vacation for two weeks. Jo-Jo had the good idea to put Dawn and Rocky in the same vehicle for an expected nine hour trip, and the first five minutes that Dawn tries to strike up a conversation with Rocky fall flat.

Ash Ketchum is finally home, and says the same thing to his mother Delia and the unexpected dinner guest Gary Oak that he has said to anyone else that has asked; he had no idea that any element of the kiss or the confession would take place.

Max Maple sent several text messages to friends, family and acquaintances (including Dawn, Zoey, Gary, et. al) saying that May has been hospitalized, but should be okay to be checked out the day after her panic attack. On Tuesday morning, a visitor came to see the recently awoken May, and surprisingly, this person also wanted to see Max. Wanting to make sure that only people that May would want to see, Max went outside of May's bedroom to find his girlfriend, the Cerulean City gym leader Misty Waterflower, who is eight years his senior.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 9- Vacation Part 3: Full Houses)

* * *

"How exactly did May suffer her panic attack?" Misty asks her boyfriend. "You said that if I called you back, you'd tell me the whole story because it was too long for a text message, so…what's up, Max?"

Max sighs as he answers Misty, saying "It's not good. I'm legitimately concerned for my sister after some things that she said before and during the attack. It started when May was in our living room yesterday. She saw Ash Ketchum's comments on the air where he talked about how he thought that it should have been Dawn who won the Grand Festival, and not May."

Misty puts her head in her left hand and shakes her head. "God, Max. Does Ash even know the meaning of the word 'tact'? That wasn't the place to say that, I don't care what was on that idiot's mind. God, after all this time, you'd think that he'd change, but he's not. Twelve long years, and he's still that same impulsive, abrasive, stubborn jackass that he was when he was ten years old! When will he grow the fuck up? Seriously! No wonder I gave up on ever being with that shallow bastard. After choosing that…I can't even call her a woman. After Ash chose _her _for a girlfriend, and he has the 'nads to pull this shit? Fuck him, Max. Fuck him!"

"There's more to May's panic attack, though," Max somberly admits. "Honestly, baby, I'm not gonna blame Ash in this instance. May just blew up because Ash was on the air giving his _opinion_ and you know how fucking opinionated he is. Umm…" Max is breathing heavily and visibly shaking. Misty starts to worry for her boyfriend.

Misty goes to tightly hold onto Max. "There's something that you're not telling me, Max. What is it?"

Max is becoming teary eyed once again. He sees the beautiful blue eyes of his girlfriend, and is given confidence to attempt to explain in greater detail the psychology behind May's breakdown. "May…said some things after hearing Ash's post match analysis that were downright frightening and disturbing. She said that she…hated Ash Ketchum and said that he was trying to take what she worked so hard for over the last ten years. Though May has been in nine Grand Festival finals, she has only won one, that being the most recent. Now May does curse, but until Ash said the things he said, she always regarded him very highly, and never spoke ill towards him, but…after his comments, she kept saying how much she hated him and how much she wanted to hurt him. Drew and I were so scared, because she was just screaming her hate and flailing out violently—we didn't know what to do at all."

Max continues, "Then this is where shit really starts to get weird, as if things aren't fucked up already. There was a knock at the door, and my dad told Drew to answer it and tell them that now wasn't a good time. About two minutes or so later, Drew comes back into the living room and says that he has found someone that can help cheer May up. He then tells this girl named Kelly from nearby Lilycove City to come into the room and May went absolutely nuts," Max then shrugs his shoulders, saying "there's no other way to put it then May lost it. She went on this tirade talking about how she doesn't want to lose her family. She started to convulse, we called 911 and…here we are."

Misty could not believe what she was hearing. 'What the fuck, May? Are you fucking joking me? I would have thought that she was done playing these games. You told me May, that you were ready to settle down, but it's clear that you _still_ aren't ready to drop these childhood things. I cannot believe that after all this time; you are _still_ fucking Kelly behind Drew's back. It's not hard, May. If you don't love him, leave him, but no matter what, he has a right to know that you're doing this.'

Misty can only shake her head as she chooses her words wisely, saying "Damn. That's deep. Looking at it like that, I think that this…Kelly might have been _the_ straw that broke the camel's back for May. Despite his attitude, based on what you told me and based on what I know personally, no one can blame Ash for May's breakdown. Forgive me for what I said about him earlier, but as you know, I have my reasons for disliking him as much as I do."

Max replies, "I know you do. Just…try not to worry about it. Think happy thoughts, like whenever you're with me." Max holds Misty once again. "God, you're incredible. You-you've risked everything to be with me, even though we have no choice but to keep our love secret until I turn 18. I mean, we've been intimate for quite a while. This relationship has become quite intense. If my folks or anyone for that matter finds out just some of what we've been doing, you could go to jail. That's commitment, Misty, and I thank you for staying with me these past six months through the good and the bad. It's been awesome."

"Thank you, Max," Misty says. "I'll be honest, when you suggested that I go on a date with you that night, I wasn't expecting much to come of it, but boy was I wrong. But you know something? I'm glad I was wrong. You're everything I could ever want or desire in a partner. Fuck anyone that thinks that you're too young to be with me. You may be young, but you're smart, funny, caring and compassionate—especially during this tough time with your sister. You've really stepped up to the plate, helping your parents and family with this. You're growing up to be a great man Max Maple, and I'm glad I get to be there to watch it happen. It certainly didn't happen with…"

Max interrupts Misty by kissing her on the forehead, and he tells her, "I know. Just…try not to think of him, and for May's sake, I don't think it would be wise to talk about Kelly, or Ash Ketchum—_especially_ Ash Ketchum at this time." Max then leads Misty to the direction of May's hospital bedroom. "Come on. Let's go see her."

It only takes the couple a minute or two to get to the bedroom, but there, Misty and Max see May once again asleep, as the tranquilizers used to calm her down after her convulsions had taken their full effect on May's body.

Misty goes up to the sleeping May after Max gave her the go ahead. Misty calmly takes a lock of the brunette's hair, and twirls it for a moment, and attempts to wake her by quietly saying, "May? Wake up. It's me, Misty."

May once again struggles, but eventually opens her eyes to see the Cerulean gym leader. 'Damn,' she thinks to herself. "M-M-Misty," she says smiling, though just slightly above a whisper. "How are you doing?"

'That May,' Misty thinks. 'Always considering others before she considers herself. Too bad that's only an outside appearance.' "I'm fine, but I'm more concerned about you, girl. Is the Grand Festival champ gonna be alright after this?"

May slowly starts to lose the smile that she had when she opened her eyes and says to Misty almost uncertain in her speech, "I should be fine. Thank you for your concern."

Misty sees something off with May's answer, and is determined to get to the bottom of what made May snap, though to her, it's crystal clear. "No problem. Hey Max? Do you mind if I talk with May privately for just a few minutes?" Though Max doesn't see it, May becomes wide-eyed and silently gasps. She wants absolutely no part of a one-on-one conversation between her and Misty for personal reasons.

Max is worried, wondering what is in the mind of her girlfriend, as she desires to have him leave May's sight for a while. "Misty…I'm not sure if that's such a good idea."

"Come on, Max," Misty says, lacing some seductiveness in her voice to stimulate her beau's sensitive side and make him melt in her hands like soft serve ice cream. "We're just gonna have a little…chat between girls. You don't mind that, do you?"

Max sighs, and knows that just the sound of his angel's voice can cause his heart to turn back flips. It's a request that he simply cannot deny. "Okay, but it will just be a _little_ chat, am I right?"

"Just a little chat, Max," Misty tells his secret boyfriend with a big smile. "That's all."

"Fine," Max says, as he leaves the room and goes off to the hospital cafeteria. Once Misty can confirm that Max is out of sight and cannot hear what she is about to ask May, she turns to the older Maple sibling, and quickly turns her glaze back over to May.

"All right," she says, now with great scorn in her voice. "I've played dumb long enough, May. Max just told me that you lost it when Kelly came into your living room while Drew was also there?"

May knows that she can't fib her way out of this situation. "Drew let Kelly into the house…"

"I know that, May!" Misty screams. "Max told me that, as well. But aren't you and Drew supposed to be a committed and monogamous couple now like you promised me that you would be? I thought you told me that you were done with your 'fun' with Kelly back when you were 14 or 15. I know, because I was right there with you, along with Brianna, Zoey, Mars, Cynthia, Solidad, Macey, Casey, and—I could go on, but I think you get the idea."

"Don't group Zoey into our affairs," May defends. "She might have been a part our clique at the time, but she was the only one of us that was not sexually active, all right? If you were so into our affairs and what we were doing, you would know that Zoey has had a huge crush and subsequent relationship with Dawn Berlitz."

"Oh yeah," Misty remembers. "I heard about the kiss some three…" Misty then catches May's plan and puts a stop to it. "Stop trying to change the goddamn subject, all right?"

Misty looks away from May in disgust. "I'm sick and tired of covering for your ass, May. When will you grow some fucking balls and quit worrying about hurting the people you love? Don't you fucking realize that you're hurting them right now by _not _telling them this?"

"Okay, you're right," May says, "but it's not as simple as you make it out to be, _Misty._ It's not just Drew or my parents that I will be hurting. My parents hate gays," May says spitefully. "I engage in homosexual activity, and consider myself bisexual. In the minds of my parents, that's wrong, and if they were to ever find out about my relationship with Kelly, no matter how much I beg or how much I plead, they're gonna kick my ass to the curb, and wipe their hands of me as if I never existed." May then puts both hands over her face, and starts to cry. "I'll be nothing but a fucking disgrace to them!"

Misty's face softens for only a moment, but then something enters her mind that she has to let out. "Do you—be honest with me, May. If your parents were accepting of you being bisexual and in an intimate relationship with another girl, would you still see yourself with Drew?"

May sniffles, and with little hesitation, she tells May 'no'.

May's answer led Misty to her next question. "How do you see your relationship with Drew? Would you consider him a friend, a boyfriend? A friend? What?"

May, at this point has stopped crying and has focused her entire thought process on Misty's question. She just decides that after telling Misty nothing but the truth up to now to continue this trend. "I did love Drew as a boyfriend during our first and second stints as a couple. But…something occurred between the second and third stint as a couple. That was the time that Kelly and I started to become sexually active, and…I never stopped. I should have stopped, but at that time, I was legitimately in love with both Drew and Kelly, and didn't want to break it off. Kelly knew this, and was the one that suggested that we stay together, but I let her be intimate with other people while I was with Drew. I didn't want to be hypocritical, even though I was dipping into something far worse than talking out of my ass."

"May? Stop bullshitting me!" Misty screams, frustrated that May wasn't able to answer what should have been a simple yes or no question. "Answer me with either a simple 'yes' or 'no'. Do you or do you not love Drew Roderick?"

"Of course she does!" A voice reverberates from the front door of the bedroom. When Misty turns around, she sees…

"Drew!" Misty cannot believe that Drew came up to the hospital when he did, but understands for what purpose he is there, but nevertheless asks, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, for one, I wanted to see my girl, and two, I'm authorized by her parents to pick her up. Well, technically because she's an adult she doesn't need authorization, but her parents gave me permission." Drew now steps forward towards May, and gives her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Honey, the doctors are saying that you are well enough to come home whenever you want. And…we were gonna surprise you, but your parents are gonna let Kelly stay with us for the rest of our stay at your folks house. How's that sound, May?"

May is speechless. She could not believe that she was going to share a house with her boyfriend and mistress at the same time. It downright scared her, and after some time, she still had not answered Drew's question.

"May? I asked you, how does that sound?" Drew once again inquires.

"Oh!" May interjects. "Fine, I suppose."

* * *

"Hey, girls," Jo-Jo asks, around 10 a.m. in the morning. "Are both of you dead back there? I haven't heard a peep out of you in over four hours!"

Jo-Jo put Rocky and Dawn with her in the hopes that they could come to a better understanding of each other, but that can't realistically happen unless they talked to each other and opened up. This sorry episode had gone on for well over four hours. Jo-Jo would ask either Dawn or Rocky a question in the hopes of breaking their glacier, but nothing was hot enough to cool tensions between the girlfriend and the older sister.

"Oh, _I_ know what we can do!" Jo-Jo says, with bad intentions laced in her voice. "Why don't we all sing a song to pass the time?" Jo-Jo has virtually no singing ability whatsoever, and Rocky noticeably cringes upon hearing that her mother is about to sing a song.

"This is the song that never ends," Jo-Jo begins singing, "Yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because…" and Jo-Jo repeats these lines several times over.

Dawn can do nothing but put her hand on her head and sigh. Looking over at Rocky, she sees that Rocky is pulling out a pair of headphones attached to an Apple iPod. She reaches over and pulls the headphones out of Rocky's grip.

"No, Rocky," Dawn exclaims while Jo-Jo is still singing. "That's cheating. If I'm gonna be miserable, you're gonna be miserable right with me."

"Why don't you just go back home and crawl under whatever fucking rock you came out of, whore? This vacation would be leagues better if my sister didn't insist that you had to be here. I swear to God, I don't know what the fuck she sees in you, at all," Rocky whispers so her mom cannot hear.

Dawn has had enough. She realizes that she promised Zoey and herself that she would not bitch or complain about having to spend nine hours or more with someone who didn't like her, but Rocky was verbally bringing her down, and Dawn could not take much more of that abuse without standing up for herself. 'Zoey won't mind if I defend myself against her sister…I hope,' Dawn thinks, and finally decides to fight back.

"And I don't know how your family puts with your nagging and bitching when things don't go your way," Dawn likewise whispers. "You've acted like an immature brat ever since you found out that Zoey and I are now a couple. Forgive me, but aren't you supposed to be the adult here the last time I checked?"

As Jo-Jo continues to sing, Rocky and Dawn continue to whisper insults to each other. Rocky retorts to Dawn's last statement, whispering, "Oh, you wanna be a fucking adult? You wanna talk about what is and what is _not_ adult behavior? You don't even deny the fact that you've had so many boyfriends over the years!"

"Because," Dawn retorts, "that would be _lying_; not exactly what I would consider adult behavior, Rocky. And as far as me being a _whore_, I may have had many boyfriends, but like your sister and my girlfriend, I'm still a virgin. I've just had many boyfriends; that's all, but I'm not the human Petri dish for disease that you'd like to think I am. Now, I don't know about you, but saving myself for the right person? I'd consider that adult behavior."

"And getting in trouble with the law is adult behavior?" Rocky asks, still at a whisper. Dawn silently gasps. She thought that that chapter in her life was to be kept confidential, but apparently, an ambitious reporter thought otherwise. "Getting caught with a felony drug possession charge is _adult_ behavior, Dawn?" Rocky scoffs. "Give me a fucking break."

What Rocky said to Dawn strikes more of a nerve inside of her than being called a slut, being ignored and shut down at every chance she tries to open up to the eldest Neale sibling, and the overall dislike that has been shown to her, combined. Never once thinking that a war of words would come to such a disdain for someone, Dawn was caught off guard with Rocky's knowledge of her past, and driven to the brink of her anger.

Without thinking, she takes her right hand, and thrusts it forward into Rocky's near cheek, as if she were throwing a pie into Rocky's face. For the first time in their conversation, Dawn speaks out loud after Rocky grunts from the physical contact. The words "Fuck you, Rocky," ring loud and clear throughout the vehicle. So much so that Jo-Jo ends her singing, and adjusts the rear view mirror to check on the girls so she doesn't have to turn away from the road.

"What's going on back there, you two?" Jo-Jo questions. "Rocky, did you do or say something to Dawn to make her say that?"

"You've never even tried to give me the benefit of the doubt as far as my dirt is concerned, Rocky," Dawn screams back to Rocky. "All you've done is bitch, bitch and bitch some more and I'm fucking tired of it!"

"Settle down, Dawn!" Jo-Jo responds to her yelling. "Rocky, things have been hard enough for Dawn as it is. Do you have to make things even more difficult for her?"

"Why do I have to be the bad guy, mom?" Rocky asks legitimately. "Why is it when she says ''F' you' to me do you ask me what _I _did?"

"Because Dawn wouldn't say that if she wasn't provoked, Rocky!" Jo-Jo responds, not turning to look back at the pair. "It's very obvious to me and everyone else that you don't like Dawn, but despite this, she still hasn't done anything to you that I would really consider mean or nasty, but you Rocky are a whole different story."

"Mom, she hasn't told Zoey some of her secrets of the past!" Rocky blurts out.

"What?" Jo-Jo says out loud.

"You know what? Zoey was right! You really do need to get your ass kicked right now, Rocky!" Dawn says with the greatest of scorn. "I'm trying to find the right time to tell her, but I can't do that if your nose is always in our business. I'll tell her, but until then, stay the fuck out of our business!"

"What is she talking about, Dawn?" Jo-Jo asks curiously. "What secrets of the past are Rocky talking about?"

Dawn decides to only half-explain to Jo-Jo the big secret that for some reason, Rocky knows about. "I…got into some trouble with the law by associating with the wrong people. To make a long story short, one of my friends dealt in illicit drugs, and while we were dating, he would often use me to help get them from place to place. I knew nothing about it, but during a drug bust, I was at the scene of the crime, and…I got arrested. Due to my age, my name was undisclosed from the media, but I was still charged with felony drug charges, which were eventually dropped in a court of law, so the issue is closed, and _should have_ stayed confidential, Rocky!"

"You never used drugs, did you, Dawn?" Jo-Jo questions.

"I smoke cigarettes, but that's it," Dawn admits. "I didn't know that my so-called friend was doing this stuff."

"Rocky, quite frankly, if_ that's_ the reason why you're so mad at Dawn, along with the fact that she admits to having so many boyfriends, I think you're grasping at straws. She didn't know until it was too late! Fortunately, she was able to get out of that culture and mindset before it really cost her down the line," Jo-Jo determines.

Rocky is still not convinced that Dawn has changed her ways, and is only kissing up to her mother to earn her favor. "Yeah, well I'm still don't trust her, mom! Fat chance of me ever trusting a word that comes out of her mouth! Swell choice you made, Zoey," she says sarcastically. "A whore and pusher all in one. Oh yeah, she's classy…"

For Dawn, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Upon hearing Rocky's statement, she punched her square in the mouth. She then unbuckled her seat belt, while telling Rocky, "That's it! Don't say you didn't ask for this, Rocky!" She then pounces on the seated Rocky Neale, flailing punches, forearms, and whatever else she can throw at the loudmouthed reporter.

Jo-Jo tries to restore order, but after thirty seconds of this, she says, "Enough!" loud enough to make Dawn stop beating her oldest daughter. She then says, "I'll be damned if I have to deal with this crap for another five hours." Jo-Jo then sighs, and says, "Well, I tried. I really, _really_ tried, but I see only one solution to prevent any more heartache or…" Jo-Jo then puts her left hand to her forehead. "Headaches." Jo-Jo pulls out her Vodafone 710 cellular phone, and hits a few numbers to phone a preset number.

* * *

Of all of the three rides to the final destination of the Seafoam Islands, the ride between Zoey D. Neale and her younger sister Mikey Neale has been the calmest and the least tense. For much of the five hours that the two have been traveling so far, they've talked about Dawn, any love interests that Mikey might have, the family, media coverage of the kiss, May Maple, and many other choice items. Now the topic at hand was sports, and Mikey and Zoey certainly did love to talk sports. They went from soccer to basketball, to baseball, hockey, motor racing, and now they were talking about one of their favorite participant sports.

"So, just remember, Zoey," Mikey says while they ride in Zoey's Ferrari, "The seven step approach is much better to use for a smaller player like you than the five step approach. You get more time to wind up the bowling ball and throw it."

"Thanks, sis," Zoey tells Mikey. "I'll try that when we get to Seafoam." A ring in the Ferrari breaks the conversation that the two were having. It was Zoey's RAZR, and someone wanted to speak with her.

"Mikey, get my phone, and tell me who it is, please." Mikey gets Zoey's vibrating phone from off of the dashboard and looks at the front caller ID.

"It's mom, Zoey."

"Answer it, Mike," Zoey responds. Mikey opens the phone at the behest of Zoey.

"Hello, mom?"

"Mikey?" Jo-Jo asks, while driving in the Hummer and carefully watching Dawn and Rocky for any sudden maneuvers. "I need to speak with your sister, Mikey."

"Okay, mom," Mikey replies. "Mom wants to speak to you, Zoey."

Zoey grabs the phone and thinks to herself, 'I can only imagine what this phone call has to do with.' "This is Zoey."

"Zoey, apparently 'Operation: Rodney King' was an unmitigated failure," Jo-Jo begins. "Rocky and…"

"Woah, mommy!" Zoey interjects, trying not to snicker while on the highway. "'Operation…Rodney King?'"

"Well, if you gave me the chance to explain, _Zoey_, you'd know that all everyone on this vacation wants is for Rocky and Dawn to just get along," Jo-Jo explains. "You want that, don't you?"

"Absolutely."

"Well right now, I have the Jerry Springer Show in the back of the Hummer, Zoey! Dawn, she…there's no other way to put it." Jo-Jo then whispers the last part, saying "She beat the _shit_ out of Rocky!"

"Wh-wh-what?" Zoey says, not believing that her mom actually cursed to her on the phone. "What happened?"

"I'll let Dawn tell you that," Jo-Jo responds. "You're behind me on the road, so I want you to turn off at exit 59, and head for the nearest fast food restaurant. Dawn will ride with you the rest of the way, and I'll take Mikey with me. How's that sound?"

"Like you should listen to daddy more often than you do," Zoey answers. "He said that I begged him to take Dawn with me, and if I did that in the first place, we wouldn't have this fiasco that we're faced with right now."

"Whatever, Domi."

"Mommy? Please stop doing that," Zoey groans. "You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Just go to exit 59, call me back, and I'll tell you where to go from there, all right?"

"Fine, mommy. See you then. Love ya."

"Love you too, Zoey." Jo-Jo says, hanging up the phone around the same time that Zoey does the same.

* * *

As he pulls into the driveway of the Petalburg City gym and the Maple house, the ride in Andrew Roderick's green Toyota Prius was quite quiet throughout. May did not say a single word to her boyfriend throughout the trip as her mind was clouded with thoughts of how she was going to hang onto whatever sanity she had remaining while living in the same house with her longtime friend and current boyfriend Drew and her good friend and longtime lover and mistress Kelly.

May prevented herself from becoming too noticeably emotional at this time, as she rested her head back, and listened to the CD lightly playing music in the background. The music, which consisted primarily of soft memories and lulling vocals seemed to calm May once again, to the point that she eventually fell to sleep, before being brought back by Drew, who told her "We're here, honey."

May simply nods, and gets the sleep out of her eyes. She opens the door on her side of the car, and lets herself out to stretch for a moment before looking towards the other end of the driveway, and seeing Kelly's familiar black limousine; the same limousine that she and Kelly spent many hot, passionate and sexual nights (and days) inside of. May can only smile widely at some of the times they have spent in the stretch car, as they would often shake it either back and forth or side to side with their explicit love making activity.

Her reminiscing is only short lived, however, as she now comes face to face with the front door of her home. Her once gleaming smile is now replaced with a look of angst, as she knows that beyond that door is the girl that has brought the absolute best and worst out of her at various points in her young life. She simply walks to the door, and takes her key, opening the door, and walking into the house. Upon doing so, she is immediately greeted be a familiar face and voice.

"May! How are you doing, honey?" says Kelly as she hugs her lover.

May responds by whispering to Kelly "Might wanna lay off the 'honey' while Drew is here, 'kay?"

Kelly whispers back to May, "Well, he might have your heart," as Kelly inconspicuously brings her hand down to May's crotch area "but _I _have your pussy. Which one is more powerful?"

"It's good to see that no one is screaming anymore," Drew assuredly says as he enters the house. "I think that this time we're gonna spend together will be good for us…all of us." As Drew goes to leave, he turns back to May's direction, and asks May "Do you have any idea where Max is, May?"

"He…told me that he was going to spend some more time with Misty before he came back home later tonight," May answers. "Misty was only gonna visit here for a day or so before she went back to the Cerulean City gym. She rented a room because right now, we sort of have a full house. Not to mention that she and Max are also both real good friends."

"All right…" Drew suspiciously says. May notices this and asks Drew if there is something wrong.

"Over the last…year or so, every time or just about every time you've talked about or mentioned Max, you've also talked about how Misty is with Max or doing something with Max, or recently had a conversation with Max," Drew admits. "Don't quote me on this, but for a Petalburg City trainer and the Cerulean City gym leader to be that close…it's odd. I'm just saying, it's weird."

* * *

"Max, you trust me, right?" Misty asks while they walk around Petalburg City.

"Absolutely, I trust you," Max says with no apprehension. "Why do you ask?"

"Well trust me when I tell you this," Misty says slowly. "Your sister…is doing something that is hurting the people that she loves the most, and those people, including yourself, have no idea what it is, but it's not good. You told me at the hospital earlier today that you are legitimately concerned for May?"

"Well, I'm always concerned for my sister and my family," Max says while his right arm is draped around Misty's shoulders, bringing his much older girlfriend closer to him. "But I wondering just how do you know what it is and…_what_ is it?"

Misty had this sort of sixth sense inbred inside of her that would tell her when she would hear something that she would find uncomfortable to talk about. May having sexual relations with her 'good friend' Kelly behind Drew's back was simply not something that she wanted to reveal to May's brother. She rightfully felt that that responsibility was best left to the perpetrator, one May Maple.

"I think that you should ask your sister about that, Max," Misty responds. "But if you are going to actually ask her what she is doing, I recommend that you be subtle in your approach. It…it's best that May tell you and everyone affected by her actions just what she's been doing. I hope you understand that…I just think that if I spilled the beans, it would not be wise. Just…" Misty weighs her words for a moment before smiling to her beau, and saying "trust me."

Max smiles back at Misty and proceeded to give her a long kiss. Afterwards, he says to Misty, "I know there's a reason why I'm with you. I _do_ trust you. You're everything that I could ever want in a girlfriend. You're that solid rock that my dad always talks about that everyone needs in their life. I might appear strong, but…you make me that much stronger. Thanks."

"No," Misty responds, as the two have stopped near a city block next to a hotel. "I should be thanking you for everything, including making me forget about Ash Ketchum. In fact," Misty continues, looking around and finding that she is at her intended destination, "I should give you a proper 'thank you'. Follow me," she seductively concludes, as she quickly leads Max Maple by the arm to the doors of the hotel that she is staying at for her temporary stop in Petalburg City.

* * *

"You buckled in, Dawn?" Zoey asks, as she turns over the ignition while Dawn gets herself settled inside Zoey's Ferrari. Zoey and Jo-Jo met in a McDonald's parking lot, and switched Mikey and Dawn into the other rides. Once both parties were there to make the switch, Zoey was able to see first hand the damage that was done to her older sister courtesy of her girlfriend.

Rocky had bruises all over her face and neck, two black eyes, and a busted lip with cuts on both the lower and upper lips. Zoey's mom was not in fact exaggerating when she described what occurred to Rocky, and the younger Neale siblings could see it. That didn't mean that they commented about it, though, as during the switch, Rocky got out of the vehicle to quickly stretch, but was confronted by her sisters. She gave them both a very nasty scowl and turned away from Zoey and Mikey before any words could be exchanged.

Once the switch was made, Mikey almost immediately got into the Hummer, but Dawn stayed behind for a moment to have a moment with Zoey. Going into the Ferrari, Dawn's thoughts were clouded with Rocky's revelations that she thought were hidden from the mass media.

Zoey follows her mother out of the parking lot, and continues on her travels to the Seafoam Islands. For a few seconds, the ride back onto the highway was silent, but eventually, the guilt of keeping her many secrets from Zoey consumed her to the point that she began to inexplicably cry.

Zoey notices this after being on the main highway for only five minutes or so. She asks her girlfriend, "What's wrong, honey?" Coming to her own conclusions, she believed that the reasons for Dawn's sadness came back to whatever Rocky said or did to cause Dawn to violently lash out at her.

"Look, like I told you before, don't let Rocky or the things that she says affect you that badly. I promise you that her bark is worse than her bite."

"Well, you've got the dog part right," Dawn says, which causes Zoey to chuckle lightly, "but, my emotion has nothing to do with Rocky…"

"Bullshit, Dawn," Zoey exclaims. "I'm sorry, but you can't sit there and tell me that Rocky didn't have something to do with this. My mother confirmed it to me on the phone. What was it? Come on! Let me know! I wanna help you, but I can't do that unless you open up to me!"

Dawn sighs, realizing that Zoey is telling nothing but the truth as far as opening up to the people that she loves, and says, "No. You're right. Rocky's words hit me like a thousand pangs, especially when she kept egging me on about my exes. It…and I think that you should know about one of them right now."

Zoey is elated to know and help Dawn in whatever way that she can. "Dawn, I'm glad to hear that. I promise you that whatever it is, I don't care. I won't be mad, and I won't be angry. I just want to help you because I love you."

Seeing and hearing her girlfriend give her consolation prior to what is expected to be a very trying revelation gives Dawn the confidence to come clean to one of her secrets.

"Thank you, Zoey. Okay…" She collects her thoughts for a moment. "You remember Paul Warrick, right?"

"William Paul Warrick? Purple haired with an Infernape?" Zoey asks as confirmation. "We're talking about the same person right?"

"Yeah, that's him," Dawn answers. "We were a couple for about three months or so when I left Ash. He was 13 and I was 12, and…things went pretty well to begin with. Paul was still a hard nut to crack in several areas, but I think I was helping to get him out of his shell in many ways."

Dawn continues, "After about the second month or so, I saw some disheartening changes. Paul started to withdraw from me and everyone else for that matter. When I wanted to talk, we wouldn't talk. He would…refuse to kiss or hug me, and he didn't want me hugging or kissing him either. I didn't know what to think, so I asked mom about it, and she said that it could be a phase, or that Paul is not emotionally ready for a romantic relationship. She was really bouncing ideas back and forth about what might cause Paul to climb back under his shell."

"I found out the reason about three weeks later. After not calling me, and refusing to come to contests that I was in during that time, I was in the Orange Islands for a contest that I asked him to come to in Mikan Island. He originally told me that he wasn't going to be there, but while walking around, I found him in the waiting room off to the side. I saw him doing something I _never_ thought I'd see; he was bawling his eyes out and crying."

"I asked him what was wrong, and he told me, 'I need to leave you. I can't keep living a lie.' I asked him what he meant, and he said it's too personal. I screamed at him 'We're a couple, for God's sake! We're supposed to be there for each other, but you've wrapped yourself into your problems so much, you don't even try to reach out and show emotion, much less affection.' Then I asked are you ashamed or afraid of our love making you less macho, and then he just blurted out, 'No! I'm gay! That's why I can't love you,' he told me. And he just kept crying. I tried to hug him, but he told me to just leave him alone, and that He'll deal with this on his own, and I left, and I haven't seen him since."

"Goddamn! Paul is gay?" Zoey asks, not for a second believing the end result of the story.

"Just as gay as you and I, if not more," Dawn answers. "The last I've heard is that outside of a few people, nobody knows that Paul is gay, and he still intends to keep it that way."

"What did you think of him coming out to you, Dawn?"

"It was brave of him, but after questioning him, I was quite angry that he essentially used me to keep people from thinking he was gay. I'm no longer angry at him, though. Not just because of my current affair, but I can feel for someone who was faced with that type of dilemma."

"And I know that you can't stay mad at anyone for long, as well," Zoey addendums.

'Well, I wouldn't _exactly_ say that,' Dawn thinks.

"Thank you, Dawn, for sharing that with me," Zoey remarks. "I know that that had to be hard for you, figuring out that your boyfriend was gay. You feel better after telling me this, right?"

Dawn thinks about it, and then says 'yes' to Zoey.

"Well, I want it to become a habit…for both of us. I don't want either of us to climb into a shell like Paul did," Zoey explains. The two would talk for the remainder of their drive to the Seafoam Islands.

* * *

Though it was very late at night, Max Maple had quite a glow on his face. You couldn't really blame him. After making love to his girlfriend for over five hours in her hotel room as her way of saying 'Thank You', Max made the two mile walk back to his house. He could barely contain himself upon leaving the hotel, but the brisk early summer air of the night, combined with the long walk was able to leave the younger Maple sibling feeling quite docile as he came to the gate of his parent's home. As he turned the corner, he came face to face with the black limousine of Kelly Mordetsky, and the green Toyota Prius of Drew Roderick. That much he expected. What he did not expect to see was the front door open, and May come outside, wearing a long beige trench coat, looking around suspiciously.

Max hid behind a tree upon seeing May, and stayed there until he was sure that he was not caught. May walked slowly over to the passenger's side of the limousine, and the door opened before May got too close. Kelly came outside of the limousine to give May a long kiss. When she finished, she asked May, "I see you got my invitation earlier, 'eh?"

"Yeah," May returns. "It's time for some_ real_ fun for the first time in ages."

"Aren't you worried about being caught, though?"

"Yeah," May admits, "but I have to look out for my best interest first and foremost, Kelly." May then reveals to Kelly that behind the trench coat, she is wearing her birthday suit, and a necklace that Kelly gave her for her 17th birthday. Kelly nods her approval, but says nothing. "After you, Kelly?"

"Why thank you, Georgia May," she says in a quirky Southern accent. Kelly and May both go inside of the limousine, and May shuts the car door behind her. Max sees and hears this entire episode take place.

All he can ask himself is 'Dear Lord. What does this mean?', but all speculation ceases once he hears the yelling and moaning from inside the limousine. With this newfound knowledge, Max becomes sick, and runs to the nearest trash can to throw up. After spitting out the bile left in his mouth, he doubles over, lies flat on the ground, and places his right hand on his forehead.

"God, Misty wasn't kidding. Jesus, May! How could you do this to Drew, of all people! This…this is gonna destroy him. You've been cheating on Drew with…Kelly? A girl? This…this is fucking surreal! My sister is…gay?" Max then turns around to see the limo once again. He can see that the limo is rocking back and forth, with movements complimentary to the orgasmic moans and screams heard from inside the car. Max quickly goes back to his temporary sanctuary of the trash cans to release even more bile from his system.

"That explains the panic attack," Max says, putting two and two together. "Seeing your mistress and significant other in the same room can do that to a person. God, May! This is just low! I hate to say it, but…I've lost a ton of respect for you not just as a sister, but as a human being, as well. I may hide my love for Misty, but…there's just no excuse for that. None at all."

* * *

A/N: Now that Max knows that May has been unfaithful, what will he do?

By the way, I know that I didn't cover the ride with Adman, K.C. and Corey. They will be featured more prominently in the next chapter. They had a part in this chapter, but I removed it because it was too short and didn't really accomplish anything.

Find out the goings on at the beach house on the first night and morning of the vacation.

And if you thought the Misty/Max pairing was a WTF moment for the ages, chapter 10 blows that moment completely out of the water. Find out what it is and why Misty dislikes Ash Ketchum so much. If you haven't already guessed, the reasons are one in the same.

All this and more in chapter ten of 'A Confession Gone Awry'!


	10. Vacation: There's No Explaining Love

A Confession Gone Awry

Max gives the full details of why May had a panic attack to Misty. When she gets the chance to confront May about Kelly's involvement, she finds that indeed May had continued to see Kelly on an intimate basis. Misty had known of this behavior, and was furious to find that May had not kept her promise to remain committed to Drew.

When Rocky Neale tells Dawn that she knows of her felony drug charges, Dawn could have been floored by a feather, as she was under the impression that that part of her life was to be kept confidential. The constant goading by Rocky led to Dawn fighting her while inside the Hummer. Jo-Jo calls Zoey to make plans for a switch, which occurs not that long afterwards.

Kelly is also going to be staying at the Maple's house along with Drew, and Kelly is the first face that May sees (after Drew) upon arriving back home. Misty warns Max that May is taking part in very destructive behavior, but won't elaborate on just what that means. Instead, she gives Max a 'thank you' for helping her forget about Ash Ketchum (a person she despises) among other things.

Dawn tells Zoey about her relationship with Paul, and his coming out to her, thereby deferring speaking about Rocky's true revelation. Max comes home to find a rendezvous taking place between Kelly and May, which ends up in sex inside of Kelly's limousine. Max throws up in disgust of learning that his sister is having sexual relations with another girl.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 10- Vacation Part 4: There's No Explaining Love)

* * *

After many stops, delays, halts due to traffic, stops to eat, changes of drivers, or trips to go to the bathroom, the three vehicles finally arrived to the beach house in the Seafoam Islands just a few minutes before 8 p.m., some four to five hours later than what they planned. All the members of the Neale family were very listless as they arrived to the seven figure property, but Dawn provided Zoey with some happiness, as she could not stop talking about the size of the property that Zoey owned.

The beach house was quite a find when Zoey bought it with a good portion of her acquired savings from many years in pokemon coordinating. It was a property that overlooked the ocean and was walking distance from the world famous boardwalk. It has six bedrooms and four full sized bathrooms. It also includes a weight training and exercise center, entertainment/game room, reading room, or as Zoey put it, 'The Quiet Zone', and a kitchen large enough to feed a small militia. "Yes, Dawn. This place has everything."

Dawn hugs Zoey as they both get out of the Ferrari and open the front trunk of the car which is parked in a six car garage. "It really is great, Zoey. You've done quite well for yourself, and this is an example of that."

"Just wait until you see the inside," Zoey smiles as she builds anticipation within Dawn. All eight of the vacationers take a few minutes to get all of their bags out of their respective vehicles, and head inside of the house to get everything settled in to truly make the summer house into a home.

* * *

It takes about an hour, but the process is finished, and every member of the house is now setting up their respective rooms for bedtime. Everyone had already had dinner, and wanted nothing more than to rest up for the many exciting days to come. Jo-Jo was no exception to this rule, having the most intense and nerve racking of all rides en route to the Seafoam Islands.

While in the master bedroom, Jo-Jo and Adman discuss several topics, but two in particular grab each others attention for much of the remainder of that night.

"Jody, I won't lie to you," says Adman while Jo-Jo reads a novel, "I'm concerned about Corey. Every time I tried to talk about his crush on Dawn, he shut me down. We're talking about a near 16 hour car drive, and I wasn't able to make even a stitch of progress on the matter. He either didn't want to talk about it, or he'd just change the subject. I…don't want him heartbroken, but I also want him to know that just because you want something to happen for you does not necessarily mean that it will."

"Poor guy," Jo-Jo says in a form of consolation. "You think you might have found someone and they turn out to be nothing you expected. It's like a less shocking version of 'The Crying Game', where you think you might have found a love interest to pursue, but it turns out that she doesn't want anything to do with you or any boy or guy for that matter, 'eh Adman?"

"Maybe," Adman says, chuckling, "but if Dawn turns out to have a penis…"

Jo-Jo holds her hand up to Adman's mouth and says, "Please…don't finish that, honey. I'd rather talk about another one of our children; Rocky."

"Ah," Adman says, thoughtfully. "The infamous Rocky Neale and Dawn Berlitz fight. So tell me Jo-Jo," he continues, curious as to exactly what happened, "Did it rank up there with Ali/Foreman or Ali/Frazier, or was it more Hagler/Hearns and Leonard/Hagler?"

"More like Louis/Schmeling, the rematch, or Ali/Liston, the rematch. You know? Both of those matches that went only one round each? Yeah, the fight was as one sided as you can get. It was basically Dawn upset that Rocky had not only called her names, but was able to dig up some dirt on a checkered past. Dawn was apparently charged with felony drug trafficking and drug possession a while back, but as she explained, the charges were a gross misunderstanding. It had to do with an ex-boyfriend who often asked her to make trades without her knowledge, and those charges were eventually dropped. As part of the deal, Dawn's indictment was to be kept secret, but for some reason, Rocky knew."

"Is that the reason why she's so mad? Rocky doesn't want Dawn to be with Zoey because of some trouble she got in that has since then been cleared up and is no longer an issue?" Adman asks.

"That's exactly what I asked her," Jo-Jo admits. "Aside from this one instance where I can understand why Dawn acted the way she did, I can't see any plausible reason for why Rocky doesn't like Dawn. Nothing seems to make sense, and I don't really know what's not to like."

As Jo-Jo stops her semi-rant to Adman, there is a knock at their closed door. "Who is it?" asks Adman.

"It's Dawn," the voice from the other end of the door says. "May I come in?"

"Sure," Adman says. Dawn carefully opens the door and says hello to both Adman and Jo-Jo.

"So what will we do here aside from relaxation for the next couple of weeks?"

"Well, there's the boardwalk, many sights and sounds, and for the most part, so long as everyone uses the buddy system, everything should go smoothly." Jo-Jo explains.

"Buddies over the last two times we've come here have been Jody and me, Mikey and Rocky, and K.C. and Corey, but now that everyone is getting older, and Zoey is with us, we've decided to make some changes, which include changing the pairs to Mikey and Corey, Rocky and K.C., we'll still have Jody and me, but now that Zoey is with us this year, we're going to make you two buddies for this vacation." Adman then smiles, saying "That's of course provided that you don't mind spending so much time with Zoey."

Dawn laughs back at Adman's quip, saying "Why would I?" Then after a few seconds of silence, Dawn hesitantly comes back and asks "Umm…Jo-Jo? Adman? I'll feel better asking this question as opposed to anyone of you two finding a surprise in the morning, but…is it alright if I…"

"What is Dawn?" Adman inquires. "What do you want? Come on, you can tell us. We've been where you've been and where you're going."

Dawn then takes a deep breath and quickly says "Is it alright if I sleep with Zoey tonight…and for the rest of the trip? You know what I mean when I say 'sleep'. I mean actually sleep in the same bed, and not in any sexual way. We've only been together for three days, and I've told Zoey and Rocky that I'm not that kind of girl. I'm still a virgin just like your daughter, and I will never force her to do anything that she doesn't want to do. I just feel that the more time that we spend together here, the closer that we will become once we leave and again…"

"Dawn," Adman interrupts, "Dawn. Simmer down, now. Simmer down. I _will_ allow you to sleep with Zoey,"

"YES!" Dawn interjects.

"_Provided that_…" Adman interrupts Dawn, "you do not tell two people in particular that I am allowing this to happen. You know who they are, right?"

"Corey and Rocky," Dawn says, proving to be privy to who should and should not know about this arrangement right now.

"Bingo," Jo-Jo responds. "If everyone in the family had no problem with it, we would have no problem telling everyone that we're doing this, but that's not the case, and I don't want any blowups now that we're really here on vacation."

"Come over here, Dawn," Adman says, motioning with his hand. As Dawn goes over to Adman, he begins an impromptu speech, telling Dawn, "I trust you when you say that you and Zoey are going to do the right thing and wait to take your relationship to the next level, Dawn. You know why?"

"Why?" Dawn asks, honestly not knowing why.

"Because I trusted Zoey when she told us that she really loved you," Adman explains. "I consider you to be a part of my extended family, Dawn."

"So do I, and I have no problem with it either. Now get some rest," says Jo-Jo smiling. "I know that you two plan on having a lot of fun tomorrow and for the next several days, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Dawn says in great confidence. "Good night."

"Good night, Dawn," say Jo-Jo and Adman in unison. Dawn then leaves the bedroom and walks the long distance of the end of the second floor corridor to the stairs which lead to the third floor corridor. As she walks to the door of the master bedroom, which belongs to Zoey as it is her house, she hears water running from the inside.

'Hmmm,' Dawn thinks to herself, while she is giddily smiling, 'Zoey is taking a shower. Maybe she would like some company.' Dawn then looks around the hallway to check for any watchful eyes, and then loosens the belt on her skirt and takes off her shirt before going inside Zoey's master bedroom.

The master bed is a very large area, yet very modest and quaint at the same time. The bed is huge; large enough to fit six grown adults, and is decorated with black and white patterned sheets. There are two side table drawers with lamps on top of each, and a large chandelier above the entire bedroom. There is a door off to the side which leads to a private bathroom. Upon seeing this door, Dawn then removes all of her remaining clothes, and quietly opens the door to the bathroom.

* * *

Zoey having not showered since Sunday morning had anticipated this time since the moment she arrived at the beach house. With the water running across her nude form, Zoey was quite invigorated, especially when the activity got to shampooing her fire red hair. She had quite a coif on top of her head, and whenever she could, she worked hard to maintain it by brushing it on most days and finding a stream to wash it out on others.

As a result of having an older sister, who by all accounts was quite the girly girl, she knew how to work on hair and how to care for her rare form on top of her head. When she was sure that all of the shampoo had been washed out of her hair, she opened the shower door, right as Dawn entered inside the large bathroom, and Zoey proceeded to grab a nearby towel hanging on a hook.

When Dawn saw her girlfriend step out of the shower door with her eyes closed reaching for her towel, she could not help but gasp. Not at the fact that her girlfriend was there in the buff, but because in her opinion, for quite a masculine-appearing girl, Zoey looked very sexy.

The feelings going through the head of Dawn were accentuated by the combination of the dripping hot water falling off her toned and tanned physique, the very pert and outstanding nipples jutting out from the center of her firm and proportioned breasts, her bright red hair, which was straightened from being washed, and something much further below her hair, but just below her navel and waist that happened to be shaved cleanly and a light pink. Domestic cats and kittens are often given this name, there is a type of willow shrub that has its namesake and on a song from the group 'Naughty by Nature' it is sought after, even when it belongs to somebody else.

Everything about Zoey inside and outside appeared to be perfect to Dawn. 'I have no problem giving her this,' Dawn thinks to herself. 'Besides, we'll have plenty of nights just like this one, but…I need some way to let her know the good news.' As Zoey continues to wipe the soap and shampoo from her eyes, Dawn comes exceedingly closer to the girl and waits for the right opportunity to strike.

Once Zoey removed the towel from her eyes, she opened them. A problem arose, because the steam and the cloudiness prevented her from seeing the figure of her girlfriend come close to her until the two, naked as the day they came out of their respective mother's wombs, connected in an impromptu game of tonsil hockey, where Dawn took an early lead with some aggressive offense.

Once Dawn regretfully releases her hold on the redhead, Zoey can only gasp as a result of being deprived of oxygen for such a long time, but she is finally able to find the words to say in this situation, and they are "Dawn? What the hell? What are you doing? What if my parents saw this? What if Rocky or Corey, or anyone else for that matter saw us like this, Dawn?"

"I just came to tell you the good news," says Dawn, who is shivering even though she is in a steamy bathroom.

"What's that?"

"Well, I just talked to your mom and dad," Dawn explains, "and they said that as long as you and I keep it a secret from Rocky and Corey, they will allow us to sleep together in the same bed."

Zoey gasps once again. She could not believe what Dawn had just told her. "Dawn, are you serious? You're not pulling my leg, are you, because if you are, it's not a funny joke whatsoever. I mean, my parents are very particular about things like sexual relations. They believe in a major commitment before you…go there in a relationship. And you're telling me that my parents actually told you that you and I could sleep together?"

"Not sexually, Zoey," Dawn clears up.

"No, I know that," Zoey tells Dawn. "It's just that you greeting me like this with the two of us…unclothed is not very inconspicuous."

"Don't worry, Zoey. We're not gonna have sex…yet," Dawn consoles. "But that doesn't mean that…" Dawn then touches the right breast of Zoey and lightly grazes her nipple, which warrants a light sigh and a smile from her girlfriend. "We can't do some other stuff. What do you say, Zoey?"

Zoey was left hypnotized by the seductiveness of her lover's voice, the steam that seemed to consume the bathroom, and the beautiful nude form of Dawn, but came back down to earth, saying, "I say, would you like to join me in the shower, Dawn? The water's fine." Zoey then takes Dawn's hand, and leads her in the shower, where the two immediately kiss and caress each other's body as the hot water from the spout makes for more than just a steamy setting for their activities.

* * *

Early Wednesday morning arrives, and Zoey, who is sleeping with Dawn while each of them holds onto one another in an embrace, wakes up. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Zoey slowly sits up to prevent from waking up Dawn before she wanted to, and gets out of her bed to quickly get dressed. After no more than five minutes, Zoey eventually wakes her girlfriend and tells her to get ready.

Dawn attempted to protest by saying that "It's 5:45 in the morning, Zoey," but Zoey would have none of it, saying that she planned for her and Dawn to do a lot together today, including leave the house to have breakfast, but they couldn't do that unless Dawn got out of bed. After a heavy sigh, Dawn got out of the bed, grabbed some clothes and came back over to kiss Zoey, telling her "I'm ready. So what are we gonna do first?"

Zoey takes a few locks of Dawn's hair, and tells the girl "Would you mind getting your hair done by me before we take off?"

"My…hair?" Dawn asks, and then says, "Sure. Why the heck not? It's early, and shouldn't take that long. Do you…have any idea how you'd like to do my hair, Zoey?"

Zoey ponders Dawn's question on what hairstyle she should use for the Twinleaf native, and after some 10 seconds, Zoey simply says to Dawn "Braids. Actually, when I look at your hair, I see the chance to do something different. Something new, you know what I mean? I think back to the movie '10' with actress Bo Derek, when she wore cornrows, and…it really looked nice, because until then women of non-African ancestry hadn't worn their hair like that with any great frequency. But, to be honest, if you give me an hour or so, I think that you can really do the hairstyle justice. Have you ever had your hair in several braids before?"

Dawn chuckles as she tells Zoey "Not since I was about four or five years old, and it was nowhere near the number of braids that either me or my mom would have wanted. She just found it to be quite time consuming."

"Who knows? She probably tried it on a whim," Zoey ponders. "Well, did you like it? Tell me what do you think about it?"

"It looked…good," Dawn admits. "I just didn't see myself wearing it like that for any great period of time, but…it looked really good."

"So does that mean that I can do your hair like that, Dawn? I really would like to try, and," Zoey takes yet another lock of her girlfriend's hair while smiling widely. "I'm curious as to how you would look. So what do you say?"

Dawn slowly shakes her head and then smiles saying, "Damn it, Zoey! I can't say no after seeing _that_ smile! Sure, you can do my hair like that."

Zoey then hugs Dawn, and says "Thanks for trusting me! I promise you'll like it, and once we're done, we'll have breakfast together, okay?"

"Okay, honey." Dawn, at Zoey's behest then sits down on a chair, and for about 90 minutes or so, she twists and forms Dawn's hair until she has about 10-15 different strands falling down to the bottom of her lower back.

Zoey brings a mirror to Dawn's hands and asks "So, what do you think, Dawnie?"

Dawn views her hair from all angles, and nods in approval, saying "You did an excellent job, Zoey. Really, it looks great." Dawn then gets up and kisses Zoey, and tells her thank you.

"Your quite welcome," Zoey retorts, "But I learned everything that I know about hair from Rocky, so you should probably be thanking her."

Dawn raises her eyebrows to Zoey and then shrugs her shoulders, saying "Okay. Thank you Rocky, wherever you are," Dawn says deadpan.

"Okay. Now, if you're ready, I'd like to take you in the Ferrari out for breakfast. There's this guy nearby in the Seafoam Islands who makes the most incredibly delicious pancakes. He's just an awesome guy, too. Normally, the family would go to his diner every summer for one or two visits, and whenever I'm in Kanto, I try to see him, but today, I want you to see him, and I wanna do it one on one."

"How can I say no?" Dawn asks as she grabs her purse. "Let's go."

"Wait," Zoey says almost as a warning. "Two things before we go. One, I'm gonna write a note and leave it in the kitchen for my folks or someone else to see so they know where we are, and two, this one's on me." Zoey extends her near hand, saying "With your permission, Dawn?"

Dawn takes Zoey's offered hand and says in an upper crust English accent "Certainly, my dear," as they head out of the master bedroom and the house for some nourishment away from any watchful eyes in her home, or elsewhere.

* * *

Kevin 'K.C.' Neale has always considered himself to be more or less of an extension of his father, especially in the caring and the compassion that he shows for the people around him. He knew that both Dawn and his younger sister Zoey were more than just friends when the two arrived at the Neale home in Snowpoint City, but chose to not push the matter out of his sister or her love interest, feeling that it would be best for her to explain on her own terms what the kiss, and other subsequent incidences meant in the correct context.

Of the other six family members, K.C. was in the majority of people that liked the relationship between Dawn and Zoey. The exceptions to this rule of course are both Rocky and Corey, and while K.C. was indeed concerned about the disdain that Rocky felt for Dawn, for personal reasons he paid very special attention to his younger brother Corey. He had been Corey's age at one time, and knew the feelings that would often swim inside of his mind when the subject of the opposite sex came up.

Despite knowing full well what it feels like to be in love (or to think that you are in love), K.C. can honestly say that he has never heard of a situation quite like the one his brother is facing. Dawn has continuously told Corey and the other members of the Neale family that she is a lesbian, but that doesn't stop Corey from not only claiming that Dawn is not gay, but still harboring a crush for the girl.

More than anything, K.C. wanted to help his little brother out, but over the course of the long drive to the beach house and the first night, any attempts from K.C. and Adman to get inside the youngest male Neale were thwarted by Corey. 'I don't wanna talk about it,' he would say. 'It's not that important, really,' but K.C. and his father Adman knew better.

Waking up just before 8 am he got dressed and headed down to the house kitchen to prepare breakfast for whatever remaining family members there were. According to two notes that he found on the refrigerator, both his parents and Dawn and Zoey went out for breakfast. That left Mikey, Rocky, Corey and himself to sit down to his prepared meal of steak and eggs. The first person to come to the table is Mikey, and the first thing that Mikey says after telling her brother good morning is "I've been looking all over for mom, dad, Zoey and Dawn, but I can't find them."

"That's because the four lovebirds went onto two separate escapades to have breakfast on their own terms," K.C. clears up, "but that's only assumption on my part, and you know what happens when you assume, right?"

"Yes sir," Mikey answers. "Doesn't matter, though. Mom and dad, and Zoey and Dawn are couples. They deserve time one on one. I think it's quite cute, _especially_ Zoey and Dawn."

"Oh, by the way," K.C. says going onto the new subject at hand, "How would you like your eggs, and how many eggs would you like?"

"Sunny side up, and three please."

"Oh, my," K.C. exclaims as a reaction to his little sister's disposal-like ability to eat. "I thought that basketball tryouts weren't until September, Mike. You look like your getting about 50 head starts."

"You can never be _too_ prepared, K.C." Mikey explains. "I mean, I need to give my body what it needs year round. I'm an athlete, and even though some professionals might say otherwise, there is no off season for me."

"While I'm up," K.C. begins, "Would you like your steak medium, as usual?"

"Yeah, you know it," Mikey says, familiar with having steak for breakfast since she was young. "The person you shouldn't have to ask how they'd like their steak is Rocky. She's gonna say raw. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she asks for two;" Then Mikey laughs as if Rocky's butt kicking was a witty joke. "One for each of her black eyes."

"Very fucking funny, sis," says someone coming inside of the kitchen wearing a black pajama short set. It's Rocky Neale with two black eyes and her long curled red hair appears to be frazzled from almost 10 hours in her bed, tossing and turning due to nightmares she had from Dawn's beat down to her less than 24 hours ago. "But you are right about the steak. I don't have much of an appetite, so K.C.?"

K.C. picks up the smallest of the three remaining uncooked steaks on his table, and hands it to Rocky, saying "I've got you covered."

"Thanks, Kevin," Rocky says as she takes the raw steak and places it on her right eye.

"I've gotten several of them myself," Mikey reminds Rocky. "What you want to do if you have two of them at the same time is use the different sides of the steak for both of your eyes. It lessens the bruising quicker for both eyes."

"Thanks sis. I'll try that," Rocky says, pouring a glass of orange juice for herself. After a few minutes or so, as conversations between K.C., Mikey and Rocky happen about various subjects, including what they were most looking forward to on their vacation, the final piece to the puzzle arrived into the room, as a fully dressed Corey Neale walks into the kitchen.

All conversations that were occurring between the remaining members of the Neale family were cut short, as Corey slowly walked to the refrigerator. Before Corey opened the door to the fridge, he looked to the breakfast table, and caught glances at the faces of each of his siblings who are giving off tentative looks. "What?" he says confused.

"Nothing…" Mikey defends. To this, Corey rolls his eyes, and goes back into the refrigerator to get some fruit cocktail.

"Your…bitchy attitude this morning," Rocky begins, "wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that your crush is not here, would it?"

"Rocky?" Corey says while still raiding the fridge and not once taking a look at his oldest sister, "Drop it."

"Why should I?" Rocky sincerely inquires. "This whole family seems to be infatuated with Dawn Berlitz, and I think that she's a piece of crap! Two of my younger siblings are in love with the same piece of trash!"

"Come on, Rocky," Corey says listless but trying to remain pacifist nevertheless. "That's not nice. Don't say that about Dawn."

"No, I'm tired of staying silent throughout this whole damn thing!" Rocky interjects. "Nobody ever asked me about this, but everyone in this family has apparently decided to just let Zoey do whatever she wants and not speak out about how they truly feel, because 'Even though she's gay, we'll love her no matter what, and we'll reserve judgment on the many things that she does because we can't walk in her shoes and know what she goes through in life'. Mom and dad have taken _that_ approach. They may be talking, but they aren't saying anything. Well, like I said, I'm tired of being quiet about this."

"If you ask me, you've been pretty outspoken since Dawn came here, but that's just me," K.C. says laughing, and Mikey soon joins her brother in laughter.

"I don't know why the hell you two find this whole thing to be such a big joke!" Corey exclaims. "Okay, I'm still not convinced that Dawn is a lesbian. How could my sister have such a profound affect on her just like that?" and Corey accentuates his point by snapping his fingers. "Was it—what was it?"

"Oooh…" Mikey vocalizes. "My spidey senses are tingling. I sense jealousy in my twin brother."

"Mikey," Corey says holding up his index, middle and ring fingers, "Read between the lines."

"Harsh, brah," she sarcastically retorts. "But seriously, if you claim to have a crush on Dawn, I don't care what you think about what I'm going to say, but…you can't act on these feelings so long as Dawn remains with Zoey. That's not fair to Zoey, and it's especially nor fair to Dawn, someone you claim to have such deep feelings for."

"And who the hell made you such an expert on _love _and _feelings_, Mike?" Corey enquires.

"Come on, Mike, Corey," K.C. says, playing the role of moderator and peace keeper. "Be nice. You're twins. You shared the same womb for nine months. "

"Can we get back to the issue at hand, please, and not go down memory lane?" Rocky impatiently asks. "Why in the world do you care for that…girl, Corey? I thought you had more common sense than that, but it seems as if you've fallen into that slut's trap just like Zoey has!"

"She's not a slut!" Corey yells to Rocky. "Okay, so Dawn has made a couple of mistakes. Who the hell hasn't, Rock? So she's not had the greatest luck with her old boyfriends. Did you talk to anyone of them?"

"You didn't answer my question, Corey," Rocky interjects, ignoring Corey's last question. "Why do you have a crush on Dawn?"

Corey looks at Rocky as if she grew a third eye. He takes a deep breath and says "You're actually expecting me to stand here and try and explain the feelings that are going through me? You want me to tell you what it feels like to think that you may very well be in love with someone who is stuck in her belief that she could never have the same feelings for you because of something that you can't control? I had no say in whether I would be a boy or not, but I'm shut down by Dawn because of her explicit adamancy in the fact that she is in love with Zoey."

"No," Mikey interrupts. "You're shut down because Dawn is already taken. If Zoey were a guy and she brought Dawn here, you'd be in the same situation. It has absolutely nothing to do with genders or sexual orientation."

Corey laughs insincerely and tells Mikey, "You know, with all the advice you are giving me, I wonder whether or not I'm gonna have to pay you by the hour!"

"All right, that's more than enough," K.C. says, having his full of arguments for the day, "someone has to step in, obviously, or we might as well have the English Parliament in this kitchen with all this verbal back and forth. Rocky, at least _try_ to make an effort to act like a civilized human being around Dawn. Like it or not, she is living with us, so…don't intentionally try to make things hard for all of us, because we have to live with the end result if you do."

"Mikey, don't make fun of Corey for being in love, cause it could very well happen to you when you least expect it. Corey…Mikey has a point. Whether you think Dawn being gay is legitimate or not, she _is _in a relationship with Zoey. And to interfere in that no matter how you may feel about Dawn is wrong. Do you understand?"

Corey rolls his eyes for a brief moment and lightly shakes his head, saying "Yeah. I get it, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it."

"Hey guys," Mikey says looking at the newspaper _The Kanto Examiner_, "It seems that the media are trying to get Dawn and Zoey for an interview so that they can get their side of the story on this, but…they can't seem to find them."

"It's because they're looking in the wrong place, Mike," Rocky says privy to the media's quest to find the next big story. "They're looking in Sinnoh, but they're gonna have to go all the way to Kanto to find them." And then Rocky thinks, 'Hmmm. The media is already ruthless, that much I know. I work in the media. If I could make a couple of calls, maybe the right amount of media pressure could keep that bitch far, far away from my sister…and my love struck brother, as well.'

* * *

Using his right hand to pick up the phone and his left index finger to punch in the right combination of numbers to call the desired number, Max Maple makes a call away from anyone who could see or hear his conversation. He is inside of a coat closet, and waiting for his call to be answered.

Since coming home late last night and finding out the shocking truth about his sister, he has become more determined than ever to get answers. The problem is that he believes that going to May and asking her about her indiscretions will lead him to nothing more than roadblocks, as in his mind, May would in all likelihood deny everything. But now armed with information that someone gave him the day before, he has another way to find out what he wants to know.

"Hello?" a voice asks on the other line.

"Don't bullshit me and don't beat around the fucking bush. Just tell me what I want to know. You told me yesterday that my sister was doing something that was hurting the people that love her." Max then takes a deep breath and starts to tear up with his voice breaking. "Now yesterday, when I got back home after what we did, I saw something pretty fucking disturbing, and I'm afraid that it's exactly what you were alluding to, so tell me; Is May cheating on Drew with Kelly Mordetsky?"

On the other end of the line it is indeed Misty Waterflower, who is on her cell phone while in the process of checking out of her hotel room. She heard her boyfriend speak very candidly and vividly about wanting to know the truth. She had prayed to whatever gods existed that she did not have to be the one who would have to break the bad news to Max, for more than one reason.

"Misty. Don't leave me in any kind of suspense. Is my sister fucking Kelly behind Drew's back? Was that the big secret?"

Misty sucks in oxygen very deeply and then seemingly releases it all back into the atmosphere with her one word answer of "Yes."

On the other line, Max cannot hold back his emotion any longer. He cries mightily on the phone with his lover, saying "God, I was hoping and praying that it wouldn't be this. Nobody on this planet is nicer to May than Drew, and she does this shit? What the fuck, May? How long has this been going on?"

Misty was afraid that Max would ask this question. "Umm, honey? Maybe you should just take a deep breath, and…"

"How fucking long, Misty? You're the one who kept this information from me and apparently everyone else, so you had to know how long! So how long has May been doing this?"

'Please,' Misty thinks to herself, 'don't do anything stupid when you hear this.' "I kept it to myself because I always insisted that May tell her family and Drew what she is doing. She _is _the one doing it after all. But," she continues crossing her fingers and saying a silent prayer, "Kelly and May have been romantically involved in some way, shape or form for about…"

"Well?" Max asks, growing impatient. "How long? Inquiring minds are curious like cats, Misty."

Misty softly answers "Six years."

"What was that?" Max asked, not hearing his lover the first time.

"They have been together for six years."

"WHAT? Six years, Misty?" Max asks incredulously.

"Yes, Max."

"Well, how did you know that this was going on for so long?" Max asks desperate for more answers.

'Fuck! I was afraid he was going to ask that. How do I tell him _this_?' "I was a part of it, too."

"What? You're not making any sense, Mist." Max says in a fit of worry.

After a few seconds of pregnant silence, Misty finally comes clean to Max, saying "Promise that you won't interrupt me, Max?"

"Yeah, I promise," Max says as a means of expediting the scavenger hunt.

Misty takes in two deep breaths and begins, saying "Kelly is a lesbian, and even though the mass media doesn't know about it, she's…she's got these things called 'Dyke Clubs', and they are for young women or girls who are gay, bisexual, or bi-curious. I was there, for only a month, and this was about five years ago," Misty clarifies, "but in that time, I was able to see the behavior first hand. I didn't have sex with any girls, but I saw lots of girl on girl, if you know what I mean."

"Max…I might as well come clean to you about it. I have—rather, I _had _a voyeurism fetish. I get off on watching people have sex. I…owned pornography, and would often give it to the girls there to see, and Kelly hadn't seen a case of voyeurism before. To say the very least, she was curious as to exactly what it entailed, so without your sister's knowledge, Kelly placed me in a nearby closet and positioned me so that I could see Kelly and your sister…fuck each other's brains out for over two hours. I found myself getting off on your sister and…I became very disgusted."

"May at this point had built her body to the point that professional bodybuilders envied her, and seeing the sweat coming off her body as they were well in their activity. It dawned on me how truly vain the entire scene was. I was lusting after two women, neither of which I 'loved', I just…I felt really dirty. That moment, however convoluted and carnal and animalistic it was, was supposed to be their moment and their moment only, and…I felt like their lovemaking was even more so tainted by me just looking at them. I told Kelly this and she said that I was free to leave whenever I wanted to…and I did just that."

"Kelly's whole setup ended up being more of a turnoff than a turn on in the end. I was afraid to date anybody, be they boy or girl for fear that it would just be lust. I didn't want lust, I wanted love. After some time, I _thought_ I had found it in…"

"You don't need to say anymore," Max consoles, knowing that everything that Misty has said up until this point and everything that she was about to say is true and very emotionally draining on her. "Like I've said many times before, we were all fooled by Ash. To think that he'd be that shallow. We were all fooled, Misty. Who knew that he preferred the girls with full sweaters and empty heads, rather than the class acts like you, Misty? It's his loss."

"What do you think about everything I told you, Max?" Misty asks timidly, in an attempt to change the subject.

"Well…" Max begins, "You were experimenting. You weren't committed to anyone at the time, were you?"

"No," Misty affirms. "I wouldn't cheat. That's why I was so pissed when I found out that May was still having an affair after all this time."

"What do I do, Misty?" Max begs. "I…I don't know what to think. I wanna tell everyone, but nobody will believe me unless I produce some iron clad evidence."

"Well, what do _you_ want to do, knowing what you now know?" Misty honestly asks.

Max stays silent for a moment, and then cries on the phone, answering "I don't know, Misty. I don't fucking know! I'm trying to weigh what I know, though. My sister is… this is nothing that I would ever expect from her, but the writing is on the fucking wall. I just don't want to see it! It's too sorry. Aside from my own parents…May was my hero."

Misty is confused at Max's wording, as he said that May _was_ his hero. "And what about now? What do you think of May?"

After a moment, Max answers, "Again, I don't know, Misty. I just don't know."

* * *

"I'm…so happy that you were able to come here this morning and spend this time with Ash," says Delia to Ash and another woman in her kitchen while they sit down to finish eating breakfast. "I know like everyone else, I was skeptical about you two, but…" she stops as she cries tears of joy.

"Oh, mom," Ash says as he goes to hug his mother. "Believe me, nobody is happier than I am to know that I have the greatest partner a guy like me could ask for."

"You are the most loving couple I have ever seen, Ash," Delia sniffles out. "And I'm thankful that I get to see your relationship grow." Delia then turns to Ash's significant other. "I just wish that people could see beyond your past, and see you right now, and the bright future that you have with my Ash."

Standing, or in this case sitting at the Ketchum kitchen table is Ash's girlfriend of about two years, Jessica Palmer. Indeed, the former Team Rocket member who along with her comrades James Morgan and Meowth tormented Ash and his revolving door of traveling companions in the quest to pilfer his Pikachu for many years is now dating the trainer from Pallet Town. It was a long story but due in part to the acquisition of Team Rocket by a radical new crime organization known as Avenue Five, Jessie quit in anger, and James and Meowth were very soon to follow. And the rest, as they say, is history.

"All I can say, Mrs. Ketchum," Jessie begins almost in tears herself, "is thank God for Avenue Five…" and then she turns to Ash and continues, "in more ways than one," and then she gives a kiss to her boyfriend in front of the very elated Delia Ketchum, who can only tear up some more after the display of affection by her son and girlfriend.

* * *

A/N: Oooh! Shocking! Yes, the big shock was Jessie and Ash are a couple that Delia is all for, but that seems to be the only person that supports it, right now. FYI, the name of the shipping is RedShipping.

Zoey doing Dawn's hair is a reference to the first contest at Jubilife City. I hope you liked it...and everything else.

The next chapter is actually a bit of a change of pace. Most of the chapter deals with flashbacks to the past, and how relationships like Kelly/May, Ash/Jessie, and Misty/Max came about, but you will still get some vacation moments with Zoey and Dawn.

And indeed, more will be written about the mysterious Avenue Five in the chapters to come!

Read and review, and while you're at it, stay tuned for the next chapter of 'A Confession Gone Awry'!


	11. Relationship Tales, Past and Present

A Confession Gone Awry

Dawn and the Neale family arrive at the summer beach house in the Seafoam Islands, and every member of the family decides to just settle down for bed. Dawn asks Zoey's parents Adman and Jo-Jo if she can sleep in the same bed with Zoey and they said yes on the condition that she not tell Rocky or Corey that she's doing this. Dawn and Zoey have a moment in the shower, and the next morning, Zoey gives Dawn a new hairstyle, and they head out for breakfast early.

Max finds out that Misty's big secret was that May was indeed cheating on her boyfriend Drew with Kelly Mordetsky, another girl. Misty explains to Max how she knew and Max doesn't know what to do knowing what he knows about May. Delia has an invited guest for Wednesday morning breakfast. It is Ash's girlfriend of nearly two years Jessica Palmer, the former Team Rocket member.

NOTE: How about a new name and age?

Seth Brockton "Brock" Slate, 28

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 11- Relationship Tales, Past and Present)

* * *

"Good morning, you two!" a cheerful waitress says arriving to Dawn and Zoey's booth in a diner that currently has a situation where the number of attendees is outnumbered by the number of workers. "My name is Shane, and I'll be your server this morning." Shane then takes out a notepad. "May I start both of you off with something to drink?"

Zoey gives a hand signal to Dawn, silently telling her to go first. "I'll have…" Dawn begins as she skims the drink page of the menu, "Coffee and tomato juice."

The redheaded girl raises her eyebrows at the varied choices of her significant other, and turns to Shane, saying "Well, if she's gonna have two drinks, then so will I!" and Zoey points her right index finger into the air for effect. "I'll have a large orange juice and a hot chocolate with whipped cream."

Shane puts the finishing touches on the initial notes and then tells Zoey and Dawn "I'll have those orders right out in just a second, okay?" Zoey and Dawn both tell Shane 'okay' as she leaves for the kitchen.

When Shane goes out of sight, Dawn uneasily looks into Zoey's eyes and tells her "Zoey. I…I need to talk to you about last night. Damn, that sounds dirty when you think about it."

Zoey chuckles at Dawn's admission, and then asks "What about last night, as if I don't already know?"

"I'm sorry," Dawn answers plainly. "It's my fault what we did last night in the shower. I shouldn't have cornered you in the nude. I just…lost it when the thought of you in the shower wasn't a thought. You were really in the shower, and…a part of me just wanted to see you, and my mind got clouded with thoughts of you."

"Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing," Zoey says while smiling and pointing her finger at Dawn multiple times while she rubs her chin. "But, if I could be honest with you about something?"

"No, go ahead," Dawn says, looking for Shane.

"I told you on Sunday during the Grand Festival that May was my girlfriend some years back." Dawn nods her head, as she remembers this detail. "It's sort of embarrassing to think about now, but…I did that same thing with May. Kiss and fondle each other in the shower while nude, that is. And even though I liked it, I was still young, and I kindly asked May if we could never do that again. At that point, the only person I ever wanted to do that with was you."

Zoey continues, saying "But I do agree that we went about it too soon, and you shouldn't take all the blame. I could have said no, but…"

Zoey doesn't continue her conversation. Instead, she accepts her and Dawn's drinks from the returning Shane. Shane asks if the twosome is ready to order, and Dawn tells her that they need a few more minutes to which Shane giddily says okay and leaves Zoey and Dawn once again.

"Thanks for that, Dawn. I wasn't quite done yet."

"No problem, hon," Dawn remarks.

"Where did I leave off?" Zoey asks herself reaching back into her memory banks. "Oh, yeah. I could have said no to your advances, but…once I saw you—once I _really_ got to see you, I lost self control, as well. But enough of me was there to know that if things really got out of hand, I don't know if we could even look at each other in the eye right now."

"And you do deserve some credit by telling me that we wouldn't have sex. Whether we are emotionally ready for it or not, we've only been together for a few days. But I'll be honest. Can I be _brutally_ honest, Dawn?"

"Sure."

"After seeing your smooth skin," Zoey begins, progressively lowering her voice so that whatever patrons or employees there cannot hear her. "Your hourglass shape, your washboard tummy, those beautiful breasts, pert tits, and well defined ass, had it not been for the fact that we were in a house full of my family members and you laid down the line about what we could and couldn't do, I probably would have fucked you nonstop until the end of June, and I'm just being honest when I say that."

Dawn gives her girlfriend an odd look before saying "I don't know if I would have been as blunt in your approach, but honestly…I probably would have let go of my inhibitions, as well. I mean, you're nothing to slouch at, either. Like I said, I saw you and kinda lost it, and you brought me back my reminding me of your parents. "

"You know," Zoey says, amused that she and her girlfriend were on the same emotional plane when it came to their physical attraction for each other, "this actually reminds me of a story that May told me about the morning after her first time with Kelly. Now, of course, unlike us, they actually did the deed, and while Kelly was more content with just going about her daily routine, May just did not know where to go from that point on. The night was like bliss to her, but the morning afterwards just seemed like 'Oh, shit. I just had sex.'"

* * *

FLASHBACK (From six years ago, or the year 2006)

With the glare of the sun opening her eyes for just a moment, 14 year old May Maple awakens on a beautiful Saturday morning. Usually, she would sleep in knowing that it was the weekend and time for relaxation for her and her Pokémon, but on this day, knowing full well what she and Kelly did last night, May finds it hard to just stay still.

She gets out of the bed covers and sits at the foot of the full sized bed. It is at this point that she realizes that she has no clothes on whatsoever. This causes her to shiver even more as she scans Kelly's room to find her clothes. Getting up she finds her underwear and gets up from the bed to collect that and the rest of her clothes. While in scavenger hunt mode in search of her clothes, Kelly's door opens to find Kelly standing at the doorway and dressed for work.

Kelly sees May in frantic activity as she gathers her clothes, and says to her "Good morning, Georgia May."

May swiftly turns her head over to the doorway to find the purple haired sexpot and gives off a look of shock. She tells Kelly "AH! What the hell are you doing? Turn away, and close the door! What if someone sees me? And what did I tell you about calling me that? I hate my real name, Kelly!"

"Jesus Christ," Kelly sarcastically interjects. "Did someone get out of the wrong side of the bed or what? And what do you mean by 'turn away', like I haven't already seen what you've got?"

"Kelly, shut up!" May says, trying not to yell in disgust. "How can you be so blunt, so…frank about what we did last night?"

"Don't tell me you regret it, May. Do you?" Kelly asks concerned that she might have legitimately gone too far in her quest to please her girlfriend of nearly one year. "We…we talked about this, May. We went over this for a long period of time. I told you that it would hurt…"

"I don't hurt, Kelly," May says with tears starting to come down her face. "Not physically, at least, but you've made no bones about the fact that you've done this with other girls in the past."

"The key words being _other girls_." Kelly interrupts and emphasizes her point by doing the quotation signals when she says the words 'other girls'.

May is perturbed by Kelly's interjection and points a finger in her face, saying "Will you let me finish, for fuck's sake?"

Kelly momentarily grits her teeth and says "Sorry. Please continue. I wanna help you."

"Then listen. Please," May retorts. "You've talked about knowing your entire life that you were gay, and regrettably acting upon your feelings when you were only twelve years old. You've talked about…having multiple sex partners before me."

"That's _before_ you, May," Kelly defends.

"But how can I be so goddamn sure, Kelly?" May whispers while crying. "You've been fucking girls for two years. How do I know…that I'm not just another name on your wall of fame? How do I know that you won't turn around and treat some other whore better than me? How, Kelly?" May concludes and then cries into her hands.

Kelly now understands what May is feeling inside of her. The fact is that May knew about all of Kelly's past dirt because Kelly had told her, not wanting any secrets between the two, and despite that still chose her for a girlfriend. However, the realization that a leopard never changes its spots scares May to no end. What May wanted more than anything else with Kelly was a loving, committed and monogamous relationship, but based on the purple haired girls past, she felt that that was nearly impossible.

"May," Kelly starts, "What we have…is so much different than what I've done with any other girl. All the other girls that I've been with, they were just for sex. Nothing more and nothing less. I mean, did you notice that we've been together for—well, it's gonna be one whole year next month, and last night was the first time we made love."

Kelly continues, claiming "Take what I just said, for instance. Every time I would talk about being physical with another girl, I would say that I had sex with her, or I fucked her. I wouldn't use words like 'make love' to describe what we did, because I wasn't in a loving relationship with _any _of those girls."

Kelly then gets down on one knee in front of May and elaborates on what she said, exclaiming "Look at me, May," Kelly says adjusting the chestnut-haired girl's chin. "I would drop them all in half a heartbeat if it meant that I would only do what we did with you. You wanna know why?"

"Why, Kelly?" May inquires.

"Simple," Kelly smiles. "Because I love you, May. I don't love your body, or your sex, or what you can do for me, or even who you and your folks are. I love you, just because…you're you."

It is often said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and when May gets a good look at the now tearful eyes of her girlfriend Kelly, she can see the honesty behind her words, and is almost taken aback by the confession. She begins to tear up once again, and finally pulls Kelly in to a big squeeze of a hug with her nude body wrapping around Kelly's clothed form.

For nearly a minute, all May can muster from her mouth are tears of happiness and relief, until she finally says "Why did I ever doubt you, Kelly?" she sniffles a few times and continues, explaining "You've never given me a reason to doubt you before. You been honest to me even when I haven't asked for it and you've been nothing but good to me, so why would I doubt you and your intentions? Why now?"

Kelly thinks for a moment while still kneeled down and begins, saying just above a whisper "We've just taken a big step, May. We can't go back and say that this never happened, because it happened. You know it, and I know it, May. As far as relationships are concerned for some people, 'sex' might as well be a four letter word. People…will try to say that sex won't change their relationship, but those people, quite frankly, are talking out of their ass."

May snickers for a moment when she hears Kelly's declaration. "Seriously, though," Kelly continues. "I mean it when I say that sex changes a relationship, because you're introducing something in a relationship that wasn't there before. For some relationships, it can be the making point, or it can be the breaking point."

"For us, I think it should be the making point. I don't want to lose you because of fear that I'm fooling around, 'cause as far as I'm concerned, as long as you and I are together, those days are over. From now on, I just want to focus on our relationship and making it the best possible by making you happy every single day."

May looks into her girlfriend's eyes once more and says "Thanks Kelly. But…"

Kelly covers May's mouth, saying "No buts, May."

May takes Kelly's hand away from her mouth, and retorts "But is it alright for me to be…scared? We've taken a huge step that none of us can deny anymore. I don't want us to end up like a sex-crazed couple that loses sight of what it means to be in love. I want us to be aware of the fact that although sex and love making is a great part of it, it's a part nevertheless."

"I understand what your saying," Kelly remarks, "and you are right. Its okay for you to be scared May. I _want_ you to be scared. You've had sex for the first time! You've come off of quite possibly the greatest emotional highs in your life, and that is…scary. That is fucking scary. So, you can be scared. You have that right. But you can't live your life in fear forever. At some point, all of us just have to move on, like me."

May timidly looks at her girlfriend and asks, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that its morning, and my Pokémon and I need to be fed," Kelly clarifies. "It's been like that for me since I trained a Grumpig. I just dust myself off and continue about my day." Kelly then gets up from the ground. "Like right now. How does breakfast sound, Georgia May?" Kelly asks taking May's near hand.

May smiles at her, though unbeknownst to Kelly she grabs an object with her far hand, and says "It sounds great…once I put my clothes on." And then May takes a pillow and hits Kelly with it two times. "That's what you get for sneaking up on me in the nude, and what the hell did I tell you about calling me Georgia May?"

"What?" Kelly asks dumbfounded. "It's charming, dignified, and I like it! Shouldn't that count for something?"

"I hate my real name! It makes me sound old!" May admits, then she pulls Kelly in once more for a hug, professing "but I love our real love."

"I'm glad," Kelly quaintly states. "Now come on. Get dressed and we and the Pokémon can all have breakfast together. You need it after that hard workout last night," Kelly states as she leaves the room laughing as if she was amused at her own joke. May turns red upon hearing the honest truth about their encounter, and how it did take a lot of energy out of the Petalburg City native.

* * *

"To be honest," Zoey begins as she and Dawn begin to feed all of their Pokémon on a distant beach away from the commotion of the boardwalk, "That entire morning and everything that was said that morning was quite ironic. Kelly and May didn't want to become a sex-based and sex-obsessed couple, but it turns out that a majority of the things that they did in the years to follow revolve around a _very_ active sex life."

"Go figure," Dawn postscripts, as she scratches behind Glameow's ears. "I'm sure that Kelly had a lot to do with that. With all the Dyke Clubs that that girl has set up, there have to be many young girls that were just…sucked in with no way to get out."

"Hey!" Zoey sternly defends. "I was a part of that, okay? Kelly isn't as much of a nymphomaniac as many people would like to speculate. She's a real good person for the time that I got to know her, okay? She…never, _ever_ came onto me, and she never tried to solicit sex out of me. And, furthermore, if the Dyke Clubs were advertised as 'Dyke Clubs', how many people do you think they would really attract?"

Zoey continues, saying "The purpose of them was to attract people who were curious or needed help sorting out their feelings. We listened, and at times, gave advice. Sex was always just a small sliver of the pie. Kelly is only a pervert when it comes to May and her other sex partners that she and May share. Otherwise, she is nothing but a class act and a tremendous businesswoman since taking over from her mother two years ago."

"But," Dawn says in an attempt to tie up some loose ends in the story that to her don't make any sense "How exactly did they evolve from this monogamous lesbian couple to an open couple with May seeing both Drew and Kelly, with Drew being none the wiser?"

"Well, that's the part of the story that…May still hasn't told me in great detail," Zoey admits, "but I've heard from a lot of Kelly and May's fuck buddies that…when Drew pretty much begged and pleaded to get back with May for the second time, she consulted with Kelly. She was willing to back away, but May didn't want to be heartbroken again by Drew, and be left back at square one as far as a relationship was concerned."

"People often say," Zoey continues, "that May continues to be romantically involved with Kelly because if things with Drew ever fell flat again, the fall for May won't be as far downward because she has Kelly there as a cushion. She just doesn't want another disappointment, and doesn't want to be lonely. Because she was now supposed to be committed to Drew, she felt that asking Kelly to be completely committed to her was hypocritical and unfair."

"Okay, a couple more things," Dawn interrupts, as the picture becomes clearer. "If May was so worried about being heartbroken by Drew, why did she get back with him again?"

"Again, this is all…stuff I've heard from second or third parties, but she was starting to become a lot more aware of her vulnerability whenever Kelly was around," Zoey explains, "and she thought she could better hide her bisexuality by getting back together with Drew. She did all of this, by the way, without her parents knowing that they had already broken up and gotten back together twice."

"Okay...what about Kelly?" Dawn asks. "If she's such a class act, why does she participate in these affairs?"

"That's what I don't know and I've been trying to find out," Zoey says not knowing that answer. "But Kelly is really a good person, so it's hard for me as a third party observer to speculate why she does this. I mean, what drives people to do taboo behavior? You have all day to figure that out with me?"

Dawn takes a moment to digest everything that Zoey has told her and says "You're right. Maybe I _should_ give Kelly the benefit of the doubt. After all, she and May did help you realize your feelings," Dawn then brings Zoey closer to her by gently bringing her shoulder near to her shoulder. "And it gave you the confidence to come out to me, and…look where we are, now," she concludes, giving a kiss to Zoey.

Zoey releases for a moment and asks Dawn "Aren't you worried about out little…" Zoey looks around at the hodgepodge of her and Dawn's Pokémon who are eating their own breakfast, "audience?"

"Do they look like they're worried, Zoey?" Dawn asks. "Quite frankly, I think they could care less. So long as you and I are happy Zoey, Glameow, Shellos, and the others are happy, as well."

"You know," Zoey begins, "you're right. I just hope that…the media and our friends and our extended family can be just like Pokémon, but that's a dream scenario at best. We may be on vacation right now, but once we get back to the real world where there are real problems and real hardships that we have to face head on…we have to be just as stubborn and just as stuck in our ways as they are. We have to take your mom's advice and stay together, for us and only us." Zoey then brings out her right pinky finger towards Dawn's direction. "Promise that we stay together through this…everything?"

Dawn conspicuously looks at Zoey and asks her point blank, "Aren't we a little too old for…pinky swearing?"

"Come on, Dawn!" Zoey pouts. "Besides, maturity is overrated. Buck up, and promise me that despite the best efforts of Rocky, Corey, the media or anyone else that objects to it, we'll stay together!" Zoey then brings her head down in a somewhat despondent manner. "You love me, don't you Dawn?"

Dawn brings her head down for a few seconds, but brings it up, with the indication of tears in her eyes and answers "What kind of question is that, Zoey? Of course I love you! I risked my relationship with my mother, and I risked my public portrayal in the media so that I could be with you. If I had a problem being with you because I felt that being with you would be too hard, I _never_ would have accepted your offer to be your girlfriend."

"The reason I ask," Zoey clarifies, "is because it's nice to be reassured knowing that your partner's love is just as strong as the day you first got together. It would be…so easy for you to kick me to the curb. You could go to the media today, and tell them that nothing went on, and you did not accept my feelings…"

"But I didn't," Dawn interrupts, "and I _do_ accept your feelings."

"Dawn," Zoey responds as she becomes frustrated, "it's so fucking easy to sit there and just say that! These last few days have been pretty tame for the both of us. To my surprise, we haven't been bombarded by any media or any zealot types that find homosexuality to be the greatest of evil. Things have been pretty damn good, but that won't last forever. This vacation won't last forever. Eventually, we have to deal with this shit head on and…" Zoey's voice starts to break. "I'm concerned. I don't wanna lose you because everyone else is insulted by us enough that they'd wanna mess up our good thing."

Zoey continues bearing her soul, saying "I've felt the hate before. It's the hate that people have for you when they don't even know you. When those people see me, they don't see Zoey Domenica Neale, two times a Grand Festival Champion. They just see another dyke. Another lesbo." Zoey then stops her speech once more and like Dawn before her, tears start to form in Zoey's eyes. "My fucking name doesn't even matter to them! They'd give the shirt off their backs to the homeless, but they'll slap my hand away in disgust when I go to shake theirs! Something is _wrong_ with that picture, Dawn!"

"And, oh!" Zoey sarcastically continues. "Every time that they try to change me, they always say the same worn out crap. 'God is what's best for you, Zoey,' they tell me. Well, aren't these the exact same people that say judge not, lest ye be judged? Exactly! It's nothing more than convoluted and contradictory nonsense that's all about restrictions and caveats! What kind of life would restrict someone as beautiful as you from someone like me? They may reach out, but for many of them, it's to point their fucking fingers at the so-called disgraces!"

Zoey takes a few deep breaths and continues "I don't wanna lose you because the outside hate becomes too much! It's this shit that has forced people to live lies because they just couldn't stand the heat of being an out gay or lesbian." Zoey then holds Dawn by the waist. "And I don't want our relationship to end before it has a chance to truly grow, and that's why I'm scared."

Once again, Dawn sees her girlfriend bare her emotions to her and better understands the fear that often consumes her. "Well, Zoey, just like May before us, it's okay for us to be scared. You know what I think?" Dawn begins, forming her own conclusion, "I think that recollecting on Kelly and May and how May was scared about their relationship after having sex is the reason why you might be acting like this. But…remember what I told you before we went into my mom's house on Monday morning? Stay strong. I'm willing to stay strong. Remember that I'm with you because I love you and I want to be with you. Okay?"

Zoey takes several more deep breaths trying to calm down, and then she finally says "Okay."

Dawn and Zoey then come together in a hug, and return their respective Pokémon into their pokeballs. As Zoey explains "I just have this feeling that..."

"Zoey? No," Dawn assures. "It doesn't necessarily have to be about feelings or premonitions. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow, girlfriend," she says before kissing Zoey once more, and interlocking her pinky finger with her girlfriend's. This causes Zoey to break the kiss and smile to her blue-haired belle, and say 'thank you'.

* * *

FLASHBACK (From about a year ago, which is about late 2010 or early 2011)

"Just go with the flow, Jessica," says Ash Ketchum while he assists his girlfriend in learning how to shoot pool at a hangout on the outskirts of Pallet Town. One of Ash's great loves outside of Pokémon training is billiards, and wanting to help Jessica learn a game that he played with Gary ever since he was just five years old.

"So tell me the rules of 9-ball, Jess," Ash says, wanting to test what his girlfriend has learned after about 30-40 minutes of practice.

"In the game of 9-ball," Jessie starts, "You start with a break and go up from ball numbers 1-9 in an attempt to pocket each ball in that order. You must hit the legal ball with the cue ball first, or it counts as a foul, and your opponent gets an opportunity to try to pocket the legal ball in play."

"Because it is in the rules that you must hit the legal ball with the cue ball first, you are allowed to pocket other balls in the trajectory of the legal ball in play. Any scratching, and your opponent gets a free chance to hit the cue ball from anywhere on the table. And the winner of any game is the person who legally hits the nine ball either by first legally hitting balls 1-8, or by hitting the lowest ball on the table and pocketing the nine ball in the course of that shot. So does that cover everything, honey?"

Ash laughs, saying "I couldn't have said it better myself. Well, Jessica, I think it's time to put your skills to the test. What do you say?"

"All right, all right," Jessie agrees. "Hey Ash. How convinced are you of your _own_ skills?"

Ash looks at her confused saying "Very much convinced. Why?"

"Well," Jessie leads on, "how about a little…friendly wager? Let's say…two dollars a pocket?" Jessie knows that Ash cannot pass up small gambling. Even though he is just now currently of legal age, he has made quite a small fortune from the illegal business of proposition gambling for the last two years combined with the twelve years of being one of the world's top Pokémon trainers.

Ash looks at her girlfriend of six months and shockingly asks "You mean a gamble?" Ash then looks around the pool hall at the other patrons who are going about their own games and slowly continues, "But isn't that a bad, bad habit that we shouldn't participate in at all, Jessica?"

Ash then leans over to Jessie's ear and whispers 'Make it five a pocket and you're on!' Jessie smiles and puts down on the table a small stack of five dollar bills.

"So how do you want to go about this?" Jessie asks.

"Ummm," Ash wonders, "We'll do five dollars a pocket, and twenty-five for the nine ball. And…let's add a maximum of two double downs for each game and each player, making for a possible four double downs in any given game. Sound good, Jessica?"

"We're going on a rolling sum, right?" Jessie asks as confirmation. "As in, every missed ball we just add five dollars more to its value, and we keep adding until the shot is made?"

Ash has no problem with that stipulation and tells Jessie, "Sure, no problem," as he sets up the rack for their first game. "Go ahead, Jess. You make the first break."

"Very well, Ash," Jessie replies, and just about 30 minutes later, the standout trainer from Pallet Town was out about five hundred dollars.

Frustrated that he was barely able to make a dent in Jessie's play, Ash puts his head on the billiards table and exclaims "I cannot believe that you beat me seven games to one. If there is such a thing as beginner's luck, then document it as happening right here and right now."

"Well, that's funny, Ash," Jessie remarks, "Because anyone that has played pool with me in the last six years wouldn't tell me that I have beginner's luck."

"But didn't you tell me that this was your first time…" Ash after stopping what he was about to say puts together the final pieces of the puzzle and concludes out loud to his girlfriend that "This was not the first time that you've ever played pool, right?"

Jessie says "Ding-ding-ding!" in response, and continues remarking to "Give the young man a prize! It's hardly been the first time that I've played pool, and now you know this."

Ash smiles and shakes his head saying "That was dirty trick if I've ever seen one before. Why'd you do it?"

"Why do you illegally gamble?" Jessie quickly retorts as she gives all of Ash's money that she won back to him.

'Back to this again, I see?' Ash questions to himself. "Jess, honestly I don't see what the big deal is. It's my damn money, and I should have the right to blow it however I see fit. Besides, I've already saved up a sum that's in the eight figures. My great-great-grandchildren are set for life after all of my accomplishments as a Pokémon trainer."

"Does that mean that I shouldn't be concerned, Ash?" Jessie questions. "I have my reasons for not liking this behavior. Gambling is an addiction…"

"That's only the work of special interest groups playing with your psyche, Jessie," Ash defends. "Those special interest groups would like you and many others to think that gambling is an addiction for anyone who participates in it, but that's just B.S."

"But for those people that actually _are_ addicted to gambling—those compulsive gamblers are the ones that think that their behavior is perfectly fine. Yet they do things like dip into savings and cost their children things like their education, trust funds and the like. I know my limit, and I have no problem setting it and living by it, Jess."

"I have my reasons for not liking it, all right?" Jessie states in frustration. "And they have nothing to do with politics or special interests. It broke up my family when I was young. I've seen what gambling can do to an otherwise happy and healthy relationship. I've seen the result of everything that a husband and wife have worked for over the years be flushed down the shitter, because of _gambling_. If that had been playing against anyone else with the same type of skills, you would have been short on a lot of hard earned money."

"That money is chump change, at best," Ash claims.

"Don't take it for granted, Ash Ketchum!" Jessie exclaims. She continues her speech while pointing her finger and saying "Don't ever take anything for granted in this world, because…" Jessie stops talking for a moment to reach into her jeans and pull out a wallet sized folder of her old partner in crimes James Riley Morgan, who disappeared during the Team Rocket/Avenue Five merger nearly two years prior to the moment that she and Ash currently share. Upon seeing the smiling face of the purple haired young man, she nearly sobs, but is able to blurt out "you never know what will happen to the people or things that you love."

Ash consoles his girlfriend by telling her "Look. There was no proof that he died in that whole mess. They found no body, and I promised you that we'd work together to find James. We talked with his parents and their working hard on the matter…you haven't given up on finding James, have you?"

"He would have shown up by now, Ash!" Jessie retorts. "Team Rocket is dead! There's no more reason for him to be hiding if he is indeed hiding!" Jessie then scoffs, saying "Why the hell am I even talking about this? It's no longer an issue!"

"You've gotten emotional over this and my non-issue of gambling," Ash answers while holding Jessie. "It's just…overcame you in a way and you've become overprotective about every little thing in your life. I realize that you've had a rough upbringing, but sometimes you just need to relax and let people take care of people. Trust me, I'll be fine. I'm an adult! I mean, when was the last time that you've had some 'you' time, where James, your family or my gambling wasn't on your mind?"

Jessie sniffles and tells Ash "It's been quite a long time."

"Well," Ash begins his statement, "what if I told you that we could spend the remainder of this afternoon and evening just relaxing and enjoying each other's company?"

"How?"

"Well, I learned it from my mother, who I didn't even know had been doing it for years," Ash ambiguously answers. "A full body treatment at the day spa…for the both of us. Manicures, pedicures, steam bath, hot rock massage, the works, and," Ash continues holding up the large stack of money. "Everything's on me. What do you say?"

* * *

"I'm glad that you suggested this place, Dawn," says Zoey as two hot rocks are placed and rubbed on the middle of her back while a specialist tends to her toes. "After all the time that I've spent around here during summers past, I can't believe I didn't step into this place until today. I've always thought that this stuff was…kinda girly, but thanks to you, I know better, _and_ I feel better."

"I knew it would help you relax and forget those hateful people, even if it was for a little while," Dawn agrees, while she sees two young men in white robes walk through a hallway. "And what made you think that a place like this is 'girly'?"

Zoey, unbeknownst to Dawn saw the guys and answered "Well…they always advertise day spas and places like day spas with women in mind."

"And you're not a woman?" Dawn jokingly interjects.

Zoey looks over at Dawn while they are both on their own massage beds and rolls her eyes. "I'm not what you would call someone who is in the day spa industry's particular…range of people to advertise to. What would they want with tomboys, Dawn?"

"Everyone needs to relax every once in a while, Zoey," Dawn claims. "I mean, I just saw…"

"You just saw two guys come through here. I know," says Zoey in a concerted effort to be a wise girl.

Dawn points at Zoey and tells her, "You're gonna get it later, Zoey. But for now, just enjoy being pampered by…the trained staff." Dawn soon allows the massages to take their toll and she lulled the final words out of her mouth before going to sleep. Zoey takes this opportunity to reach out to Dawn's hair and toy with two of her braids for a couple of minutes before she too falls asleep.

Two more hours pass, and Zoey and Dawn leave the day spa and head outside to find that it is about 7pm in the evening, and they have a few more hours before they head back home.

"So what do you wanna do on the boardwalk before we head back home, Dawn?" Zoey questions.

"Uhh," Dawn wonders while looking around. Once she sees the Ferris wheel off in the distance, she asks Zoey "Oh! Can we go to the carnival?"

Zoey looks at Dawn wearily and asks "The carnival? But aren't carnivals for little…"

"Please?" Dawn goads. "I love carnivals!"

"Okay. Let's go!" Zoey giddily says, immediately wanting to do whatever it takes to make Dawn happy.

* * *

FLASHBACK (From April of 2012, two months removed from the events of the story)

"Well, Misty," Max says appearing to be very tired after spending several hours at the local Spring carnival in Porta Vista, "We have time for one more ride, and it's your turn to choose. So which one is it gonna be, love?"

Misty has no trouble telling Max, "You know, can I tell you something that I've always dreamed of even dating back to when I was a little girl?"

"Certainly!" Max tells Misty, anticipating hearing Misty's story.

"I've always dreamed that it would be night in the city, and I would be at the carnival with someone that I truly loved and cared for, and the feeling would be mutual. It would be almost time for the carnival to close for the night, and we were in line together to go on the Ferris wheel. We'd go on the ride together, we'd get to the top of the ride, and…love would take its course from there."

"Misty, that sounds so romantic," Max says, nuzzling his face into his girlfriends face and chin. Max looks over at the line to the Ferris wheel and asks his belle "You wanna make that fantasy a reality? The line's pretty short, and I guess everyone already rode it or they're heading home."

"Oh, Max," Misty dreamily says, "I'd love to…"

"Well," Max responds pulling Misty to the Ferris wheel line. "Let's go! The carnival will close soon!"

Waiting about 10 minutes or so, the Ferris wheel stops to a point in which the two lovebirds are able to share a seat on the ride, get strapped in, and enjoy the crystal clear May evening. Once the ride is filled with new patrons, the Ferris wheel goes at full speed and the couple holds hands as they go to the top of the sky, high enough to see the entire carnival before them.

After a few more rotations, the carnival workers set off a few fireworks to signify that the carnival had been closed for the evening. Upon seeing the explosions in the nearby sky, it was just like Misty's dream scenario come true, as love took its course and the two lovers kissed upon making it to the top of the Ferris wheel and throughout the duration of the ride.

* * *

"Um, excuse me?" a carnival attendant speaks. "The ride's over. You can get off, now," as he and the small audience of young couples around him snickers in amusement.

Zoey and Dawn let go of their near three minute long kiss on each other and turn their heads to the male in his late 20s.

"Oh, shit," Zoey embarrassingly remarks as the two un-strap themselves from the ride.

"Sorry," Dawn tells the ride operator as both she and Zoey head for the exit and for the Ferrari to take them back to the beach house.

Before they can get away from the crowd, though, Zoey hears a guy say "Is it off to the Lesbos Island now, girls?" to which Zoey puts up her left middle finger to nobody in particular. The redhead didn't even turn around to find out who made the shallow remark.

As they go past the exit, Dawn asks her, "Look, I'm sorry about what that guy said back there. There was no…"

"What do you have to feel sorry for?" Zoey interrupts. "He's just an asshole that gets off on that. He's probably not getting any," as Zoey smiles to Dawn "unless it's his right hand and some Vaseline."

Dawn bursts out in laughter and says "Oh, Zoey. You're so funny."

"Well, I do have my—wait a second!" Zoey interrupts her speech as she spots some familiar faces off in the distance. "Brock? James?"

Indeed the pairing of Seth Brockton Slate (better known as 'Brock') and James Riley Morgan were walking on the other end of the boardwalk, and upon hearing their names being called out; they search their section of the boardwalk until they find Zoey and Dawn, and likewise call out their names.

The four individuals come together in a group embrace and ask each couple how the other one has been doing, though neither one knows about the other's relationship. They talk for over an hour on the empty boardwalk about everything under the sun (eventually finding out that each pairing arrived to the Seafoam Islands for vacation time) until Zoey and Dawn board Zoey's Ferrari for the five minute long trip back to the beach house.

While driving in the car, Zoey comments to Dawn, "What a day, huh?"

Dawn jokes with Zoey and tells her "I've had better, and I've had worse," and Zoey puts her right arm over Dawn's shoulder and lightly chuckles all the way to the beach house.

* * *

As Max walks down the corridor to his parent's house, he sneaks a peek into May's room, and indeed finds Kelly and May making out on her bed. Max quickly goes into the living room in an attempt to try and erase those thoughts from his head. He sees Drew asleep on the couch while the TV is on, and the scene causes Max to deeply sigh.

'How could you do this to someone as sweet and as caring as Drew, May?' Max ponders. 'It just makes no damn sense. Well tomorrow, I'm gonna get to the bottom of this,' Max continues, as he wraps a blanket around Drew's body. 'You and that bitch Kelly aren't gonna break any more hearts.'

Max watches over Drew while a newscaster on the television with the volume turned down quite low makes a statement saying "After an investigation spanning well over three days, the Pokémon Contest Directors and their Offices have come to a final decision on the official results of this year's Kanto Grand Festival final."

"This announcement will be made by Mr. Contesta from his office in Saffron City Thursday morning at approximately 10:30 a.m., and this is a statement that just came from the office. It reads, "Although we have not been able to contact Dawn Berlitz or May Maple to inform them of these affairs over the past three to four days, we are confident that through the efforts of the media, they will be made aware of the ongoing investigation." Again, Mr. Contesta at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow will give a detailed explanation on the final results of the Kanto Grand Festival and will announce the winner of the competition, as well."

* * *

A/N: Okay, to recap for those that may be confused, here is the rundown on events in the flashbacks.

-The Kelly/May flashback took place six years ago.

-The Ash/Jessie flashback took place around one year ago, and a few months afterwards, Jessie and Ash were able to find James, who had been in jail the entire time. During his incarceration, he met Brock, who after a sexual harassment conviction, gave up on women. James and Brock had the same parole officer after getting out of jail, and a relationship developed between the two. More details on that to come.

-The Misty/Max flashback was about two months prior to the current events.

-Each flashback was lead in with a similar Zoey/Dawn moment with a connecting element and each one lead out with another Zoey/Dawn moment from the present. So each moment from the present had a connection with moments to the past.

In the next chapter, find out who dissuades Rocky from telling the media where Dawn is. See someone take a _big_ step towards his future, an angry Pokémon coordinator takes a ride in a limo, and Mikey _really_ likes Zoey and Dawn's relationship, doesn't she?

Read, review, and most important enjoy! Stay tuned for the next chapter of 'A Confession Gone Awry'!


	12. Vacation: Dealmakers and Dealbreakers

A Confession Gone Awry

Zoey and Dawn spend their day together eating breakfast at a diner, feeding their Pokémon at a remote beach, relaxing in a day spa, and spending time at a beachside carnival in the Seafoam Islands. As they come to a better understanding of each other and their relationship, they also stumble upon James and Brock, who like Zoey and Dawn are a couple that recently made their union official, but neither one knows that the other's are a couple.

Throughout the day, Zoey and Dawn have moments that correlate with other moments from the past experienced first hand by other couples. Zoey relives May's first time having sex with Kelly. Along with that, Jessie confronts Ash about his gambling, and Misty gets to live out a childhood fantasy with her current boyfriend Max Maple.

Speaking of which, Max once again secretly encounters Kelly and May in a lover's activity, and finds Drew asleep on the couch. Max feels remorse for Drew, and says that he won't allow the details of Kelly and May's affair to be kept in the dark for much longer.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/TAJ/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 12- Vacation Part 5: Dealmakers and Dealbreakers)

* * *

For the second morning in a row, girlfriends Dawn and Zoey are asleep in each other's arms; a practice that was spearheaded by Dawn that Zoey couldn't help but go along with, especially knowing that her parents were fine with it. To Zoey, the closeness that she and Dawn are able to have together is the best part of their relationship, and communication was paramount in importance to the redhead.

After yesterday's many activities, Zoey and Dawn could only describe themselves as dog gone tired, as they arrived to the door of the beach house at about 11:00pm and each one raced to see who could get to the bedroom first. In near record time, each one got out of their clothes and hit the sack…hard.

Almost immediately, both Zoey and Dawn boarded for their first class ticket to dreamland, and visions of the many things that they and the other members of the Neale family were going to do for the remaining 12-13 days were on the mind of both teens that evening. Both of their dreams were filled with nothing but positive thoughts about the remainder of their extended vacation.

Though they had very intense conversations about the discrimination that gays and lesbians face on a near everyday basis and the relationship between Kelly and May, the day ended on a mellow note for the two…and then they woke up.

For this Thursday morning, Zoey set the clock for 8:00 am, and once the piercingly loud object blared through the master bedroom, Zoey reluctantly let go of Dawn and blindingly searched for the offending alarm clock by feeling for it with her right hand. Zoey moans after several seconds as she is not able to find the alarm clock. The noise of the machine is really starting to get on the girl's nerve, as she pounds the top of the table drawer and eventually hits the button on top of the clock which stops the alarm.

Feeling has if she has accomplished something of great importance, Zoey smiles as she rubs the sleep out of her eyes and looks over to the other end of the room to find something that she did not see last night.

"What the fuck?" Zoey says loud enough to finally wake up Dawn who remained asleep while the alarm blared for a little less than two minutes.

Dawn gets up and asks "What's up, Zo…" she doesn't finish, because she sees what caused Zoey to shout that obscenity.

Just above Zoey's plasma screen television is a large banner. The banner is made with white construction paper, and is adorned with several colors and a message that states 'ZOEY AND DAWN FOREVER!' with pink and red hearts around the entire banner.

"Who did this, Zoey?"

Zoey doesn't get the opportunity to answer Dawn, as she hears a knock on the door. Zoey, by force of habit asks, "Who is it?"

The person on the other end of the door answers "It's me, Mikey! May I come in?"

Dawn and Zoey look at each other for a second or two, and finally decide that whatever it is, it shouldn't take long. Both girls are in their sleepwear, so they are decent enough for anyone to come in, therefore Zoey and Dawn tell Mikey to 'Come in.'

"Wait a minute," Mikey questions without opening the door. "You and Dawn are in there together? Do mom and dad know about this?"

"Yeah, Mike," Zoey answers. "Dawn asked for permission."

"That is so cute!" Mikey admits. "I'm sure you two have spent some quality moments together, right?"

"Not what you think, Mikey," Zoey clears up. "I doubt Dawn and I will have sex anytime…wait a minute! Why the fuck am I talking about sex with my younger sister? Mike, get your ass in here, and say what you want to say!" and then Zoey privately says to Dawn, "I can't believe I was about to talk about doing the deed with Mike."

Dawn consoles Zoey by telling her "Sometimes that stuff just slips out, Zoey. Don't beat yourself up about it."

Michelle 'Mikey' Neale then opens the door, and comes in wearing her sports gear after completing her four mile run. "Good morning, you two lovebirds! Did you sleep well?"

Zoey props herself up against her pillows so that she is sitting upright while looking at her younger sister and answering "Yeah, I did," as she takes a glance over at her girlfriend, who is already out of the bed and heading for the closet.

"Look, Mikey. Dawn and I saw this," as Zoey points to a spot just above the television, "banner, and we're wondering how did it get there? Do you know?"

"Yeah," Mikey says with no hesitation whatsoever. "I put it there! Isn't it great?"

"Wait," Zoey interrupts her sister. "Let me get this straight. You put a banner in my room sometime between us coming back from our outing together and right now that says 'ZOEY AND DAWN FOREVER'…just because?"

"Yeah!" Mikey says. "You guys--I don't care what anyone else says; you guys make a great couple. I just wish that people got to know you before they went out and said these…"

"What?" Zoey requests. "What have people been saying about us, Mike?"

"Well, last night before you guys came home," Mikey timidly explains as Dawn dressed in a sweat suit walks to the door, "Mom, dad and I were…"

"Mikey? Hold that thought," Zoey cuts off. "Dawn? Where are you going?"

Dawn holds up a stick and laconically says "To smoke."

Mikey responds to this by loudly exclaiming "Ewww, Dawn! That's nasty. Why would such a beautiful girl like you…smoke?"

Dawn scoffs, saying "It's whatever, Mikey. Not everyone will like it, but it's what I do. Excuse me?"

Mikey shrugs his shoulders, saying "It's Zoey's house. I know _she_ won't mind, so…"

"Actually, Dawn," Zoey interrupts, "if you don't mind, I'd like for you to stay here with me for another couple of minutes or so. Mikey was just about to tell me about something that she and my parents saw yesterday that…well, why don't you tell me what went down, Mike?"

"It—it was…it was another example of the media making the story and not reporting the story," Mikey clarifies. "Mom was watching…a news program that was talking about how the contest officials were investigating the finish of the Grand Festival."

"Wait a minute," Dawn interjects, now gaining a more than passing interest in Mikey's words. "The contest officials are still in talks about who the winner of the Grand Festival is?"

"Yeah," Mikey answers laconically. "They've been in talks since either Sunday night or Monday, and this morning actually, they are going to make a final decision on the winner, whether it's May or you, Dawn."

"Oh, I thought that that issue was…closed, or it wasn't even an issue," Dawn says, carefully choosing her words. "Honestly, since I saw those people talking bullshit about me and Zoey's relationship, quite frankly, the media can go fuck themselves."

"Dawn?" Zoey sternly interjects.

"No, Zoey," Dawn retorts. "She's old enough to hear this. I've lost all my respect for the media. They've made me and Zoey out to look like clowns and…this is all without once going to either me or her, and making a phone call or even asking us what went down."

"That's…what I was going to talk about," Mikey inserts. "This was a news program, but the way it was structured, you would think that the three of us sitting together would do a better job of reporting the story. What they did was place a liberal talking head against a conservative talking head, as usual, and…they just showed their complete lack of knowledge about your situation."

"They pretty much denounced us, right?" Zoey asks, almost as if she knew what the next words out of Mikey's mouth were going to be.

"Yeah," Mikey tentatively answers.

Zoey deeply exhales before simply saying "It figures."

"But like Dawn, I'm learning not to trust everything that the media says, as well," Mikey admits. "They might know Zoey D., but they don't know my sister. They don't know the caring, compassionate, loving girl, who just happens to be gay. Their loss. Well," Mikey continues, regaining her cheerfulness, "I was out on the beach yesterday, and I heard about this beach volleyball tournament for 12-14 year olds. If I go out there now, I can probably get signed up. I'll see you two later. All right?"

"Okay, Mike," Zoey affirms. "Kick their ass for us, understand?"

"Will do," Mikey answers as she heads for the door of the master bedroom.

"Oh! Wait a minute, Mikey!" Zoey calls before her younger sister can leave the room.

"Yeah, sis?" Mikey replies.

Zoey quickly points to the banner just above the television and asks Mikey "You're not gonna…pull anymore stunts like that banner, are you?"

"What's so wrong about the banner, Zoey? I thought that you and Dawn would like it."

"We do like it!" Zoey quickly explains. "It's just that…you have to admit that…well when you look at it from the surface…Dawn? Tell Mikey what's wrong with the banner, please!"

'Nice,' Dawn sarcastically thinks. 'I'm called once again to do damage control. Okay. Here goes,'

Dawn explains to Mikey, "To be quite honest, Mikey, the banner is nice. It's very nice, but it's somewhat embarrassing and quite personal. Zoey and I just woke up not that long ago, and we saw it! There was no warning, and you gave off no hints that you were planning on doing something like this."

"That doesn't mean that we don't appreciate it, though," Zoey adds. "It's really good and it's touching, but like Dawn said, it is quite personal. And think about what the wrong people would think if they saw it."

Mikey is convinced by the speeches of both Zoey and Dawn that she may very well have went too far in expressing how much she likes their steady relationship. "Okay. I'll cut back. You don't mind that I sketch or draw pictures of you two, do you?"

Zoey looks at Dawn and they both silently agree with each other as Zoey says "We'll compromise. Make sure that there is nothing over the top, and whatever you do for us, _give_ it to us personally. I don't want any of the pictures or anything else going into the wrong hands. It is cute and it's very creative, and…I'm thinking that we could save them all and put them in a scrapbook or something of the sort. It could be Zoey and Dawn's first year, you know? But whatever you do, please give it to us first. You understand?"

"Yes, and it's a good idea. The scrapbook, that is," Mikey agrees.

"Hurry along, Mike," Dawn declares "or you're gonna be late to sign up for that beach volleyball tournament."

"You're right!" Mikey embarrassingly retorts. "I better get going. I lost track of time talking to you two. I'll see you later, alright? Corey is gonna be with me. Apparently there's also this Tai Chi course that he saw a flier for yesterday, and I gotta say it peaked his interests. Honestly, I hope it does. Anything to keep him from moping around the house about how he can't be with Dawn is better than nothing. All right; I'm out."

"Good bye, Mikey!" Zoey and Dawn say as Mikey leaves the pair in the master bedroom. After about a minute or so, Dawn leaves to smoke, Zoey takes a shower, and dresses. Dawn does likewise, and the two spend the rest of the morning lounging around the house enjoying one another's company.

* * *

"Come on in, Corey," says Rocky to her younger brother as they both walk into Rocky's room.

"Any reason why you wanted me to see you, Rock?" Corey curiously asks. "I'm actually supposed to leave in a few minutes with Mikey to go out to the boardwalk. Both of us have signed up for activities. I'm gonna do Tai Chi, and Mikey is gonna sign up for the first of what I assume will be many sports tournaments. This won't take long, will it?"

"Not long at all," Rocky assures. "Have a seat," she says while patting her bed. Corey sits down where Rocky directs him to do so, while Rocky sits on a chair near a work desk.

"Corey," Rocky begins, "What would you say that _we_ have in common that relates to other people, particularly someone that is on this trip with us?"

Corey thinks about what Rocky asked him, and finally comes to what he believes is an obvious answer. "We really don't support Zoey and Dawn's relationship. You know why I don't, but…I've never heard any reason why you don't."

"I just," Rocky starts to answer, "I don't, all right? I have my reasons. If I had things my way, I would like nothing more than to make a few phone calls to paparazzi and pressure her enough that Dawn will get out of all of our lives, but if we're gonna work together, then that's not really fair to you."

"Woah now, Rocky!" Corey loudly exclaims.

"Keep it quiet!" Rocky scolds. "Our family might have heard that! You want them to know what we are doing?"

"First off, I don't think it would be wise to call anyone, 'cause if the paparazzi were asked who tipped them off, all of them would point the finger at you, and you'll have even more family members mad at you than what we have right now. And second of all, what _are_ we doing, and what does working together have to do with our issues with Zoey and Dawn being together?" Corey inquires as his thoughts are mired in confusion.

"Just like you said, Corey," Rocky clears up, "Our main issue is Zoey and Dawn's romantic relationship. Neither of us really likes the fact that either of them together, so why not break them both up?"

"Hold it!" Corey says, putting up his right arm as a symbol for Rocky to stop. "Back up for just a moment, all right?" Corey takes a deep breath and shakes his head, saying "I've got a _big _issue with interfering in something that really makes Zoey happy. Shouldn't her happiness be…no. No, Rocky! You know what! Mikey was right! No matter how I might feel about it, Zoey's happiness is the most important thing, and if Zoey is happy with Dawn, then…more damn power to them, but to break them up is not right! It's not right at all!" Corey then gets up from his seat and heads for the door saying 'I'm outta here!', but not before Rocky pulls Corey back towards her direction, and back to where he was sitting on the bed previously.

Rocky then pins him down on her bed and whispers into his ear "When are you gonna grow some fucking balls, Corey? When are you actually gonna do something for you? You'll never get anywhere in this world or get the people or things that you want in this world unless you do what you want for you, consequences and feelings be damned. When will it be Corey Neale's time to shine? Only you know the answer to that question, brother, so what's it gonna be? Are you gonna sit on the sidelines once more watching opportunity after opportunity pass you by, or are you gonna speak up for once and do something not because mom or dad say so or because it's the right thing, but because _you want it?_ So tell me, Corey; do you or do you not _want_ Dawn as _you're_ girlfriend?"

Rocky's words to Corey and Corey alone were some of the most intense that he has ever heard being spoken to him. Truth be told, he was downright scared about what, if anything would happen next. He fears are to an extent quelled, however, as Rocky gets up from the bed, thus getting up from her younger brother, leaving Corey laying on the bed, making short, frequent breaths as sweating profusely while Rocky dusts herself off and looks toward Corey with a much softer gaze.

"The choice is yours, Corey," is all that she says before she takes a pair of sunglasses to go with her two piece swimsuit and jean short ensemble, and heads for the door.

Before she can go to open the door, Rocky is halted by Corey loudly calling out her name. Rocky turns around and asks her brother "Yes?"

Rocky sees Corey get up from the bed and likewise dust himself off before he makes two fists and looks down to the light beige carpet below. Corey grunts animatedly before he looks up at Rocky and shakes his head once again. "You made some good points, Rock. I have to look out for Corey, because nobody else will. Of course, when I think about me first, that lends me to being just a bit selfish. But in a lot of cases…people have been much more selfish than me when it came to their family." Corey then puts his hand over his face and admits "Nevertheless, I feel like I'm making a deal with the devil, here. You're saying that not only will we break up Zoey and Dawn, but in the process, I can have Dawn for myself?"

Rocky says "Yes," although _her _plan would not include Dawn being involved with the Neale family in any way, shape or form. She has chosen to put aside her pride and do her best to keep Dawn away from Zoey.

"How does it work?" Corey asks. "How are we going to break 'em up?"

"Patience, youngling," Rocky assures. "Remember that along with Rome not being built in a day, it wasn't destroyed in a day either. We have to go step by step if we're gonna get what we want."

"Well, can you at least clue me into what step number one entails?" Corey wonders.

Rocky smiles back Corey and she simply says "The family reunion."

Corey is not exactly sure where his sister is leading and he plainly asks "What does the family reunion have to do with anything?"

"Remember Monday night before we went on vacation?" Rocky asks jogging Corey's memory. "Remember what Zoey told us all in a family meeting? She wanted to be the only one to tell Dawn that this Seafoam Islands vacation also doubles as the Baker-Neale family reunion during this upcoming weekend. She said she didn't want to overwhelm Dawn by making her nervous knowing that she not only was vacationing with our nuclear family, but that she was also going to be a part of our extended family's family reunion."

"I'm still not sure how the family reunion is gonna help break up Zoey and Dawn," Corey laments.

Rocky sighs in frustration, but eventually says "By now, just about everyone has seen Zoey and Dawn's kiss, including our family members. I'm saying that we…help the process and stir up tension between the two lovebirds and various members of our extended family during the reunion this weekend by alluding to the," and for the next word, Rocky uses the quotation symbols with her fingers, "'fact' that Zoey didn't really trust close family and friends about keeping her sexual orientation a secret, or the fact that she is in love with Dawn."

Rocky continues, saying "Step one to 'Operation: Break up Light and Life' is quite simply…a family affair." Rocky then puts her right hand up with the expectation that it would be shaken by her younger brother. "What do you say, partner? Do we have a deal?"

Corey is hesitant once again to shake his sister's hand knowing full well what the ramifications will be for completing the deal. But Rocky's words have touched Corey unlike any other words in recent memory. The fact that he had to be selfish in order to get what he wanted never occurred to the youngest Neale male, but it made perfect sense. Corey loves his sister no matter what, but in life, he would have to look out for himself, like he is doing right now, as he shakes his oldest sister's hand and says with a cunning smile the word "Deal."

Unbeknownst to the two siblings inside of Rocky's room, for the better part of the second half of Corey and Rocky's conversation, Mikey was listening from just in front of the door. The entire time, she shook her head in absolute disgust, but forced herself from saying anything for fear that her brother or sister would catch her eavesdropping.

"I've got to go meet up with Mikey, now," Corey explains to Rocky from the inside, "but I'm more than sure that we'll talk later about our plans."

"No problem, bro," Rocky returns. "Have a nice time at your class," she concludes, as she pats Corey on the back.

"Thanks," Corey says as he heads out the door, at last on the hunt for his twin sister, who after deciding that she had heard enough about Corey and Rocky's plan, left the scene as quickly and as quietly as possible so as not to appear to be privy to Corey's plans.

* * *

Ash Ketchum had been parked at this same parking spot for nearly five minutes but had not yet gotten out of his car. In actuality, it is his mother's car that she allowed him to borrow for what she considered an extremely important and special occasion that warranted its use. With the engine off for as long as he has parked the average family sedan, he once again looks at the specialty store in front of him, and takes yet another deep breath.

"Once I step put of this vehicle and go inside that building and ask that attendant for what I need," Ash sighs once again, "there's gonna be no turning back. But why do I…why do I have cold feet? This is what I want! No. She's everything that I _need_. I need her. I need this…for both of us." Ash then starts to verbally beat himself up by saying "Come on, Ash! Come on! Come on, damn it! Get out of the fucking car and do this! You promised mom that today would be the day. No more bullshit! If you won't do it for your pathetic ass, then…" he then stops and realizes the ultimate reason as to why he parked the car to this establishment this morning, and it calms him down significantly. "Do it for her."

Ash then takes his left hand and reaches for the driver's side door to his mother's car. Opening the door, he goes to exit the vehicle, but forgets that he did not take off his safety belt. Unbuckling himself, Ash finally gets out of the motor vehicle and shuts the door of the car. After spending a few seconds standing in the near empty parking lot next to his mom's car, he slowly walks to the front entrance of the store and pulls open one of two double doors.

Around the display cases, Ash checks several different trinkets all of varying values and worth. After one minute or so of browsing, a female attendant recognizes his face and says "Mr. Ketchum?" Ash turns around to see a woman in her early to mid 30s coming towards him while she was smiling widely. Ash has had fans come to him in the oddest of places before, but he had hoped to escape his fan base while shopping here during a very important moment in his life.

Always wanting to respect the people that helped to get him to where he is right now in his career, he turns around and says hello to the woman whose name badge has the name Jen on it.

"I've seen you Pokémon training for well over a decade, Mr. Ketchum," Jen admits.

Growing tired of the honorifics, Ash respectfully tells Jen to "Please, just call me Ash."

"Okay…Ash," Jen embarrassingly responds. "I just want to tell you that…you're an excellent trainer, and you've certainly grown into quite a handsome young man over the past several years."

Ash starts to get red in the face before he humbly tells Jen "Thank you," and now wanting to get back to his matter at hand, he continues. "But I was wondering if you could help me. I'm interested in buying something for someone truly special."

"Oooh!" Jen excitingly interjects. "This special someone wouldn't happen to be a…girlfriend, would it?"

Ash points at Jen and tells her "You're quite perceptive," as he thinks to himself how much of a calming influence Jen has been since he arrived to the store not that long ago. "And if I get what I need today, we'll be the happiest couple in the world. The thing is, Jen…I need to buy an engagement ring."

"Wow," Jen dreamily replies. "That sounds so romantic. You know, you're gonna break a lot of hearts when you announce your engagement."

"Maybe," Ash thoughtfully responds, "but I'd rather make her smile. She…" Ash begins, as he recollects on his soon to be fiancée, "One thing that she doesn't really like about me that I do is the fact that I am a gambler. I like to take risks, and she's not a fan of it at all. But…this upcoming engagement should trump all of the other risks that I have taken not just in my career, but in my life, as well. Can you…personalize the ring with an inscription?"

"Absolutely," Jen happily states. "Any inscriptions or personalization can be done on the spot. Do you have anything in mind for this ring?"

"Yes," Ash confidently answers. "I'd like the inscription to be 'To Jessica: My One True Love.' The cost doesn't matter, but…I'd like to get a look at your selection and see what you might suggest I buy."

Jen is more than happy to help Ash on what is to be a simple yet special proposal to Jessie later that Thursday night, and tells him "If you'll come with me, I can you many of our finest engagement rings, and you can choose from our vast selection. Even if you don't find anything that is suitable for your fiancée to be, don't fret, because we can call around to many of our branches in the Kanto region and get you the engagement ring that you want by today. How's that sound, Ash?"

Ash finds the entire process as explained to him by Jen to be a very simple one. All he has to do is find the perfect engagement ring for Jessica, have the inscription placed on the band, buy the ring, and propose to Jessie later that day, thus making their betrothal official.

He says to Jen as they make their way to yet another display case, "I think that we have ourselves a deal. From hear on out, it's all a matter of…her answer. I just hope to God she says 'yes', because she's…all that anyone could ask for in a partner, and someone you'd want to share your life with forever."

* * *

"All right, kids," says Caroline while she is with Kelly, Drew and Max at the grocery store, "I do have some room in the budget, so if you'd like, you can each pick up a snack and a drink of your choice. After we're done here, we have just a few more stops before we head back home, understood?"

Drew and Kelly say "Yes, Mrs. Maple," while Max says "Yes, mom," and all three of them run, or rather, briskly walk to the snack and drink aisles. While Kelly and Drew choose to get some pretzels, chips and sodas, Max settles for vitamin water and a small bag of organic cheetos.

While searching for the items he would get from the supermarket, Max would often catch glances of Kelly and Drew laughing and joking at something or another and regret not being able to find a moment alone to confront Kelly with his evidence proving that Kelly and May are having sexual relations. 'Every dog has its day, Kelly. When I'm finished with you, Mordetsky, they won't be able to put you back together again, slut.'

And once again, as Max considers everything that he will put out in the open to Kelly, he quietly realizes that doing this requires one specific thing to happen. 'All I need to do is get you alone with me one on one, and you're done, bitch. And once the world finds out just what kind of evil, selfish cunt you are, no one will want any goddamn thing to do with you. You'll be out of my life, and you're sure as hell gonna be out of my sister's life, as well. And like I said last night, I'm not gonna let you hurt any more people. It's over, Kelly.'

* * *

The time reads just a few minutes after 10:30 a.m. in Petalburg City. A national news anchorman sits behind his desk and states "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I'm being told right now that Mr. Contesta is at his desk and is ready to deliver his statement concerning the rightful winner of the recent Kanto Grand Festival Final. Let's watch," the anchorman concludes as the video transitions from a shot of the anchor to Mr. Raoul Contesta at his office chair in Saffron City.

As Contesta awaits his cue, there are several seconds of silence. Once he is given the okay by the director and the cameraman, Contesta reads from a teleprompter directly in front of him, saying "Good day, ladies and gentlemen. For those unfamiliar, my name is Raoul Contesta, and I am the director of competition for Pokémon contests and Grand Festivals worldwide. Over the past four days, we here at the offices of Pokémon coordinating have been faced with a dilemma unlike any other in recent history."

"On Sunday afternoon on the third day in the month of June, our offices sanctioned the Kanto Grand Festival for the year 2012. The final match up was contested between two female coordinators. One of those coordinators was Shannon Dawn Chandler Berlitz, who goes by the competition name of Dawn Berlitz. She is 16 years old and makes her home in Twinleaf Town, a municipality in the Sinnoh region."

"The other coordinator in the finals of the Grand Festival was Georgia Caroline Marissa Maple, who goes by the competition name of May Maple. She is 19 years of age, and makes her home in Petalburg City in the Hoenn region. The two coordinators with a combined sixteen years of experience met in a one Pokémon to a finish five minute time limit draw according to the rules of Pokémon contests in the Kanto region. Therefore, the final decision on the match up was left to the remaining hit points for each coordinator's Pokémon."

"The point totals were deemed too close to call, and therefore the final decision rested on the judge's decision. As a reminder, the five presiding judges for this contest were Pokémon fan club president Mr. Suziko, the Viridian City Nurse Joy, Pokémon researcher and scientist Gary Oak, the Viridian City Officer Jenny, and yours truly. We the five judges for this Grand Festival had a consultation which lasted well over twenty minutes after the end of the Grand Festival as we reviewed and compared notes in the hopes of coming to a concrete decision on the victor of the competition."

"After reviewing footage of the match, we finally came to a unanimous decision that on a scale of 100 hit points descending, May Maple with her Blaziken defeated Dawn Berlitz with her Empoleon by a score of 10-8. At the time of the announcement of the decision, we, being the judges, were quite satisfied with our decision, and it stood through the trophy presentation and post match interviews with the press."

"However, a post match commentator by the name of Ash Ketchum brought to the table evidence that simply could not be ignored. He stated that during the point in the match where Empoleon ceased pecking on the back of Blaziken, Blaziken used a spinning ember attack, which from our vantage point appeared to have resulted in Empoleon being propelled off of Blaziken via the attack. However, a camera angle gave clear, indisputable evidence that showed that Empoleon was able to get off of Blaziken's back before the spinning ember could have any great effect on Empoleon."

"After the five judges consulted with each other over the course of that evening, we felt that there would be no harm in going back and checking the footage along with the entirety of the match itself to make sure that the result was correct. The judges then made the difficult but necessary decision to go back to the match and review it with an even keener eye for detail."

"We the judges met for a total of 31 nonconsecutive hours reviewing the match footage and communicating with the offices in Saffron City, and yesterday afternoon, we finally came to a unanimous decision based on the evidence presented to us that gave us judges a true winner of the Kanto Grand Festival of the year 2012. In a revised score of 14-11, we were able to determine that trainer/coordinator Dawn Berlitz and not May Maple was the winner of this year's Grand Festival. I reiterate, the winner of the 2012 Grand Festival is Dawn Berlitz, and as a result of these new findings, there will be an upcoming presentation where May Maple will relinquish the Grand Festival trophy along with the title of 'Grand Festival Champion' to Dawn Berlitz in an ultimate show of sportsmanship."

"In closing, ladies and gentlemen, I like to take…" Contesta's speech is cut off by an observer who had more than a passing interest in the decision made by the Pokémon coordinating offices. May Maple sat alone in her house while her brother; boyfriend and lesbian lover went with her mother to run errands. She had voluntarily chosen not to come for this very reason. Her father was, as usual, tending to his duties as a gym leader.

May is absolutely inconsolable at this point. Her worst fear during this entire episode had indeed come true. Ash Ketchum's comments, however sincere and honest they might have been cost the girl what would have been her first Grand Festival championship, after she had already won it. The fact that she even won the championship had not yet sunk in for her, and now she hears that she has to give it up? It made no sense to her whatsoever.

May had done absolutely nothing wrong. She went out in front of the crowd in the Indigo Plateau and did the best that she could. She was declared the winner that afternoon. She was presented with the trophy, informed that she was going to be given a winner's purse of nearly one and a half million dollars, even though she considered the money nothing more than a nice perk, but right now due to the comments of someone who had no hand whatsoever in the outcome of the final, it was all being taken away from her without any say from the now runner up.

May is shaking in anger recollecting on all of the events that led up to her participating in the Kanto region in the first place. Ironically enough, it was at the behest of Ash Ketchum himself that May and Drew would take part in the Kanto region Pokémon contests. The person who suggested that she go to this region was the person who eventually cost May her title.

As far as sportsmanship is concerned, which was one of the words that were highlighted in Contesta's speech; it is hard to be a good sport knowing that all that you have worked towards after nearly ten years as a coordinator is being taken away due to words and in her mind politics. In every sense of the word, Ash Ketchum is a money making and drawing celebrity in the Pokémon world, and when he talks, people listen. A part of May wishes that he could shut him up permanently for costing the Petalburg native her moment of glory.

Throughout Contesta's speech and the five minutes or so that she thought about it, May did not shed a single tear. She did not cry and she did not wail. She was too angered to emit any of those emotions to the outside world, and all of her anger was directed towards one Ash Ketchum. Even thinking of the name made May want to throw up in her mouth. It was _that_ sickening to her stomach.

Getting up from her seat, she heads over to a nearby coat closet and finds exactly what she was looking for. 'It' is her father's aluminum baseball bat from his days of playing baseball in the minor leagues and the collegiate level. The bat did some damage during Norman's heyday as a powerful switch-hitter, and May hopes that this time, it can do a different type of damage to Ash Ketchum. May wanted revenge, and the first step to getting her revenge was finding the right kind of weapon.

The bat was perfect as it made very little noise, was easy to carry, and when it was swung hard enough, it could exact some great damage, and her father could attest to this. While holding the baseball bat, May smiles knowing the type of control she held in her hands. She may not hit a home run today, but she will have a great feeling of accomplishment once she gets her hands on the outspoken trainer from Pallet Town.

Silently reveling to herself while holding onto and caressing the bat, May hears the telephone inside of the family room ring. While still holding onto the bat with her left hand, May goes over to the phone and answers it asking "Hello?"

"Yes," the lady on the other end of the line speaks. "Am I speaking to May Maple?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Well, I am calling representing the offices of Pokémon coordinating. I don't know if you've heard, but the decision on the recent Grand Festival that you won has been reversed, therefore, unfortunately you've lost the Grand Festival to Miss Berlitz. I wanted to call you so that you could set up a meeting with our offices to arrange a ceremony so that you may relinquish your trophy and title to Dawn Berlitz."

May had already heard this same song and dance during Contesta's speech. "I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to call back a little bit later. Right now," May continues, looking at the baseball bat in her hand, "I'm tied up with a very important business matter, and won't be able to make any sort of arrangement like that until at least Friday morning. You understand, right?"

"Absolutely," the woman on the other end of the line echoes. "So, can I expect a call to our offices from you on Friday?"

"Yes," May irks out of her system. "I have your number, so I'll call you."

"Thank you, Miss Maple, and again, we apologize for this entire episode. No hard feelings, right?"

May shakes her head after a while and tells the person on the other end of the line "Naw. No hard feelings. There's always next time after all. Good bye, now."

"Good bye," says the other woman as May hangs up the phone.

"I may not have any hard feelings towards Dawn, but Ash Ketchum is another story." May then goes back into the closet to find two more items that she was originally searching for. After less than a minute of searching, she finds a black ski mask and a pair of coal miner's gloves. May then goes into her room to find an outfit appropriate enough for her to exact her revenge. She finds an all black outfit that is designed to prevent people from identifying her.

Putting on the black spandex shirt and black pants, she then walks to the front door with the baseball bat in hand. Next to the door are several hooks where the members of the household can put their keys. May searches for and finds the keys that she wants. They are her lover Kelly's keys to her black limousine. Knowing the routes that lead to Ash's home in Pallet, she simply takes the keys along with her personal set of keys and leaves the house, locking it behind her.

May opens the driver's side door of the limo, makes the various adjustments to the mirrors, puts on the safety belt, adjusts the seat and places the key into the ignition. She holds off on turning the car engine over, before she says "No doubt about it, and no turning back. I can't go on without paying Ash Ketchum back for the shit he's put me through. Maybe hurting him is not what I need to do."

She stops, takes a deep breath and finally turns the ignition over and turns on the car. Holding onto the steering wheel, she shifts the car into 'drive', and turns the car in the direction of the road to Route 101 and Littleroot Town to catch a car ferry. Before she drives away from her house, she makes a conclusion in her clouded and angry mind, proclaiming out loud to herself her ultimate goal.

May softly but bitingly speaks "Ash Ketchum must die," while caressing the baseball bat with her right hand, "and I'm gonna kill him."

* * *

A/N: Oooh, drama! Do I know drama or what? Maybe RTR should change his name to TNT. LOL. But how about that chapter? May is livid enough that she thinks killing Ash is a solution, but Ash wants to ask Jessie to marry him! What will happen?

Also, what will come of Zoey keeping the family reunion a secret the entire time of the trip to Dawn? Find out what happens, and watch as the first of the family members arrives at the house. And there is some more Zoey/Dawn hilarity next chapter!

Also Caroline, Drew, Max and Kelly arrive back home…to find that Kelly's limousine is missing. What will Kelly do, and will Max get his time alone with Kelly at last?

Will Mikey confront Corey knowing that he and Rocky are conspiring to break up Zoey and Dawn?

And perhaps Dawn's greatest enemy is out of jail and on the hunt for the person who put him there. What will happen? Find out!

Now, if you ask me, that is quite a lot to cover for the next chapter, and you're right. That's why the next chapter is the SUPER SIZED SEASON FINALE! That's right, during the time when most shows will be having their season premieres, 'A Confession Gone Awry' is having its season finale in a much larger chapter for all of you to enjoy, because after this, it's back to 'Sharing', and the eighth chapter of that fic comes to you on October 15th!

Stay tuned for the exciting season finale, but until then, read, review, leave your thoughts, and stay tuned! Season finale, folks!


	13. Vacation: Not Quite According to Plan

A Confession Gone Awry (Final Chapter of Season One)

When Zoey and Dawn wake up on Thursday morning, they find quite the surprise in a banner hung up in Zoey's master bedroom that reads 'ZOEY AND DAWN FOREVER!' The couple finds out that Zoey's younger sister Mikey Neale is the one who made the banner. After a nice talk, the two come to a verbal agreement. The details of that agreement are that Mikey can make drawings, sketches or poems about the couple, but all of them have to go to Zoey and Dawn for fear that they might end up in the wrong hands.

Corey and Rocky come together in a pact. The object of this pact is to break up Zoey and Dawn. Rocky has codenamed the plan 'Operation: Break Up Light and Life', with 'light' being the rough meaning of Dawn's name, and 'life' being the meaning of Zoey's name. Ash Ketchum takes his mother's car to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend Jessie, formerly of Team Rocket. Max, Drew and Kelly go with Caroline to the supermarket and run some other errands. Max promises to himself that her affair with May against Drew is over.

May and everyone else around the world hears the final results of the Kanto Grand Festival. Contesta makes a long speech explaining why it took so long to come to the decision that the offices came to, but he finally announces a reversal of the decision from 10-8 in favor of May to 14-11 in favor of Dawn, making Dawn the true Grand Festival champion. May becomes irate, as she relives the irony of it all. It was Ash that suggested that May go to Kanto and coordinate. She won the Grand Festival and then had it taken from her because of Ash's post match comments. May seemingly goes off the deep end preparing several items (including a baseball bat), and pilfering Kelly's keys to her limousine declaring that she is going to kill Ash Ketchum.

Get a cup of coffee ready, because this is a double (maybe even triple) length chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 13- Vacation Part 6: Not Quite According to Plan)

* * *

After about thirty minutes on the road while driving Kelly's limo, May has not said a single word. She does not have any cold feet whatsoever concerning what she is planning to do because in her convoluted mind, she feels that she's doing the right thing. 'An eye for an eye' she would think to herself. After all, because of Ash's comments, her dreams of becoming a Grand Festival champion were crushed. It would only be fair for the girl to crush Ash Ketchum by beating him into a million pieces.

In fact, the only sound that can be heard inside of the state of the art stretch car is the sound of the air conditioning as it blows cool air throughout the limousine. But when May goes to turn the radio of the car on and break the monotony of what is to be quite a long car ride, she hears something seemingly amiss during the drive. Indeed, the vehicle's motor could be heard humming quite the tune as May made the trek to Littleroot Town and the ferry that would drop her off in the Kanto region, but there was an added sound in the vehicle that was not consistent with a car in motion.

May makes a few moves at the cockpit of the vehicle and turns the air conditioning off to hear something quite disturbing that sounds as if it is coming from the passenger's area of the car. "Is that…snoring?" May quietly speculates to herself. She decides to pull over onto the curb of the road after hearing this noise which resembles the sound of an individual in a mode of slumber. After coming to a complete stop, she looks over at the numerous buttons and controls. Having been in Kelly's limo many times before, she knew of its many functions and perks, and May brings down the separating window between the front seats and the passenger's area. It is there that she sees a man in is early to mid 40s sleeping in what appears to be a pullout bed.

"Ah-ha. It's Gordon," May says as if she is not surprised by the sight of the sleeping individual. Gordon is Kelly Mordetsky's personal chauffer and a person that the girl has gotten to know very well over the two years or so that he has driven Kelly's limo. May gets out of the driver's side of the limo and goes over to the passenger's side door and opens it to find a prescription of sleeping pills next to Gordon's bedside, which is the same pull out bed that May and Kelly have used for their activities in recent years.

"Maybe you can help me, Gordon," May says as she shakes the chauffer commanding him to "Wake up! Wake up, Gordon!"

Gordon is suddenly shaken awake from the strong grip and powerful arms of May and responds to this physical alarm clock by exclaiming "Bloody hell! What in the world is this nonsense?" and then he sees the signature red bandana and the chestnut brown hair.

"Miss Maple?" Gordon inquires in a confused manner. "What—what is the meaning of all this? What are you doing?" As Gordon checks his surroundings, he poses another question to May in the form of "Where are we?"

May decides to answer all of her questions to the best of her ability without leaving the door open for anymore questions that the chauffer might pose to her and she responds to Gordon "One, I needed to wake you up. The reason that I needed to wake you up is because I need to get to Pallet Town as soon as possible, and I'm not that good with directions, and right now, if I remember the last road sign that we passed on the highway…we're not that far from Littleroot Town, and the ferry that can take us to the Kanto region."

"Okay," Gordon responds. "Does Mistress Kelly know about this at all?"

May smiles with the most evil of intentions on her mind should Gordon not follow through with her master plan. "She will…eventually, because you're gonna tell her."

"Come again, Miss Maple?" Gordon says, not following May's logic. "You want me to tell Mistress Kelly that you've apparently hijacked her property to take to the Kanto region for…what, exactly?"

"No," May negates. "Don't tell her that I've taken it. An important matter of business has just come up, and I need to get to Pallet Town, ASAP," May explains without going into great detail. "You're gonna help me, because you're gonna give her a voicemail message or a text message telling Kelly that _you've_ taken the limo out for a while and…" May stops her command to put her left hand on Gordon's right shoulder, "you don't know when you're gonna get back."

"Well…" Gordon says not even knowing where to begin.

"Well, what?" May inquires. "What's the problem? You've covered for her many times in the past when she 'just had to see me and get some'. Now, it's my turn to live on the wild side for just a moment, Gordon, and you get to be a part of it! What do you say, man? Have some fun in Kanto while I take care of my very important business?"

Gordon still does not even know what to say or what to think with the exception of considering for only a minute that he should up his dosage of sleeping pills. "In the past…I have used the limo for personal reasons behind Mistress Kelly's back. But I've always told her ahead of time when I'd be using it so _she_ could likewise plan ahead if she had an engagement that she had to go to."

"So?" May interjects, "What's the problem?"

"This is all so sudden!" Gordon blurts out. "You're stealing Kelly's limo to make an emergency run to Pallet Town, and for what?"

"I already said," May reiterates, "it's for an emergency that I have to take care of posthaste. Kelly won't mind that I'm using her limo. I'll…tell her later. I promise you that you won't get in any trouble, but I really have to get to Kanto and get there now, but before we go, I have to know; do you have a cell phone on you so that you can deliver the message to Kelly?"

Gordon sighs almost in defeat. He didn't want to argue with May, but he could not understand the plan as it was laid out to him. For now all he does is take out his cellular phone and show it to May. "Before we go any further," Gordon exclaims before he seemingly hands the phone to May, "Just tell me exactly what we are doing in three sentences or less?"

May shakes her head and chuckles for a moment telling Gordon "First off, I'm gonna leave a message on my family's answering machine telling them that I've gone off for a walk and won't be back until late, among some other things. Then you leave a message on Kelly's voicemail saying that an emergency popped up and you need to use the limo for the rest of today. It's simple; both bases will be covered and neither story will be intertwined with the other. Everyone will just think it was pure coincidence that both of us were gone for much of the day."

"And after you take care of your business," Gordon wonders while he is starting to get the picture, "You promise to eventually take full responsibility for stealing Kelly's limo, relieving me of any wrongdoings, right?"

"Yes," says May without even giving it a second thought. "I…I can promise you this because I know that Kelly won't be mad at me. There…might be a couple of rough nights of fucking that I have to look forward to, but…that's hardly what I would call punishment."

"Miss Maple," Gordon responds by putting his hand to his forehead, "please spare me of the stories of you and Mistress Kelly's…escapades. I hear enough about them while riding her from place to place." Gordon gives a tentative look to May and continues, saying "You know, quite frankly, I think you're crazy, and there is something going on inside of your head right now that--I don't think I want to know what this 'business' is that you have to tend to, but truth be told…I'm intrigued at what you're doing, so…I'll go along with your plan for now."

"But…but why?" May asks, confused that Gordon would go along with her plan, but thankful nonetheless.

"What is this business that you have in Pallet?" Gordon inquires back to May with a sly smile.

May replies back with a point of her right index finger and the word "Touché, Gordon. Let's go. We have some messages that we have to send."

* * *

Unlike Wednesday when Zoey and Dawn did many things together and spent the entire day out and about, Thursday was determined by both parties to be a relaxation day. Most people would define 'relaxation' as a rest, sleeping in, or just being lazy, and Zoey D. Neale and Dawn Berlitz were absolutely no exception to this unwritten rule of rest.

Their relaxation on this Thursday after Mikey left with Corey to do beach activities consisted of cuddling close to each other, telling each other how much they loved one another, and just enjoying each other's company during vacation time. Zoey knows that she has not been quite honest about the full meaning of the trip to the Seafoam Islands, and that time is running out in terms of how much longer she can keep the family reunion a secret from her girlfriend. But right now, Zoey is more content with just enjoying this time that she has one on one with Dawn.

Their peaceful time together is interrupted, however, as Dawn and Zoey hear a knock on the door of the master bedroom. "Who is it?" Zoey asks out of habit, which warrants a response of 'It's us, Zoey,' from the other end of the door.

Recognizing the voices, Zoey tells the people on the other end to come in. Zoey knows that it's not Corey because he is off with Mikey doing youth beach activities. She also knows that it can't be Rocky, who told her that she would be out surfing for much of the morning and afternoon. K.C. couldn't be the one behind the door either, because he went out much earlier that morning to the airport to pick up some of his relatives from Adman's side of the family for the reunion. Therefore, by process of elimination, it had to be…

"Mom! Dad! Good morning," Zoey exclaims. Regretfully, the young couple lets go of each other for a moment and both girls go over to Zoey's parents to give them hugs.

"How are you two doing today?" Adman asks out of curiosity.

"Oh, we're fine," Zoey responds. "Yesterday was pretty long, so Dawn and I decided to spend much of today here, you know? Just relaxing and enjoying each other's company while everyone else is out for the day."

"Did you guys hear the news?" Jo-Jo excitedly inquires.

Zoey doesn't exactly comprehend what her mother is asking and she wonders "What news?"

Jo-Jo responds by clarifying "Actually, it has more to do with Dawn than anyone else, but you guys didn't hear the news at all?"

"No," Dawn answers. "We've just been here in Zoey's room all day. Zoey watched a little bit of SportsCenter, and I caught some of the news, but…I didn't hear any news about me."

"Dawn," Jo-Jo states, not believing that the girl had not yet heard Contesta's speech, "You won the Grand Festival!"

"What?" Dawn and Zoey both interject in total disbelief. Until Mikey came into Zoey's room earlier that day, Dawn had put the entire issue of the Grand Festival behind her over the last few days thanks to Zoey and the vacation, and now Jo-Jo was telling her that she was the winner? It didn't seem to make any sense to her, at all.

Meanwhile, Zoey considered what her mother has just told Dawn. Checking a few functions on her phone, she looks at the top news stories, and indeed the first headline is there, reading _Decision of Kanto GF Reversed in Favor of Berlitz_. Indeed, Zoey is happy to know that Dawn has now become the Grand Festival champion, but cannot help but feel for her ex-girlfriend, May. Because Dawn is now the Grand Festival winner, that made May the Grand Festival loser.

If there is anyone in the world besides close family, her boyfriend and her girlfriend that knows more about May than May herself, it would have to be Zoey. While they were a couple, Zoey and May trained together to get ready for various contests and to keep their battling strategies sharp. Zoey knows the passion that May has for pokemon coordinating and the many heartaches that she has had over the years due to the fact that she has been a part of so many Grand Festivals and has lost so many, as well.

She knows about the eight Grand Festival finals that May has attended prior to the most recent one along with the eight subsequent losses, and Zoey has been there on more than one occasion to give her now ex-girlfriend a comforting hug of support or words of wisdom to keep trying and trying. Until recently, May had not known what it was like to taste victory, but apparently she has now come to find out that that singular title is being taken away due to some sort of technicality that only Zoey's parents and whoever else was watching Raoul Contesta's speech is privy to.

It confused Zoey to no end, to which she asks "But how? I thought that May was a lock! I thought that the results were already finalized! May won, and…Dawn lost!"

At that moment, neither Adman nor Jo-Jo could respond, as Dawn's cell phone rang. As Dawn went inside of her pocket to retrieve the phone, she turned her eyes away from Zoey and her parents. While Dawn's attention was temporarily turned away from the other people inside of the master bedroom, Adman took this time to silently mouth to Zoey his question of 'have you told her yet?' while inconspicuously pointing in Dawn's direction. Zoey gives her father the signal telling Adman that she would tell him and Jo-Jo in just a minute.

Once Dawn gets her phone out of her pocket, she looks at the number displayed on the called ID just outside of the phone and opens it, even though she is not familiar with the number that she just viewed.

Dawn gives the traditional introduction of "Hello?" and she hears the voice of another man on the other line say "Yes. Am I speaking to Miss Shannon Berlitz?"

Dawn sighs lightly upon hearing her real name and answers to the operator "Yes, but from now on, I'd prefer that you call me 'Dawn' if it's not too much trouble. Is that alright?"

"Not a problem," says the operator. "I'm Chris Vale, and I represent the Office of Pokemon Coordinating in Celadon City, and I'm not sure if you've heard it or not, but our director Mr. Raoul Contesta just made the announcement, and I'm calling to confirm it. The results of the Grand Festival that you recently participated in at the Indigo Plateau have been finalized and I'm happy to tell you that you Miss Berlitz have been declared the official winner of the Kanto Grand Festival!"

Still not believing it, even after hearing it for the second time, Dawn slowly brings the phone down to her right hip. Dawn brings her head down, which Jo-Jo quickly catches. It causes the older woman to ask "Is everything alright, Dawn?"

"Uhh…yeah!" Dawn ends cheerfully. "Umm, you don't mind if I leave you guys alone for a few minutes, do you? The call is…pretty confidential."

Adman, Jo-Jo and Zoey all assure Dawn that it's perfectly okay, and Dawn thanks them. Afterwards, she asks the voice on the other end of the receiver to hold for a few seconds, to which Mr. Vale says 'No problem,' and Dawn leaves to head outside.

Once Dawn has made the turn that leads to the end of the corridor and the staircase, Adman is assured in the fact that Dawn won't hear him and asks Zoey "So, Zoey. What I wanted to ask you while Dawn was looking for her phone—you know what I wanted to ask you, right?"

"Yes," Zoey says in monotone. "You wanted to know if I've told Zoey about the family reunion or not."

To the surprise of her parents, Zoey does not affix another word to her sentence, seemingly leaving it open ended. Her parents are left just as ambiguous as they were when they came inside of Zoey's room.

"Well," Adman begins, "Have you or haven't you?"

Zoey quickly says "No."

Out of frustration, both Jo-Jo and Adman say "Zoey!" in unison. Adman then says "You've _got _to tell her this, Zoey! She's gonna start asking questions when she sees about 500 of our family and friends here on the property." And then Adman says in a voice tone seemingly designed to mock Dawn, "Oh, Zoey? Zoey, baby? Honey bunches? What in the world are all of your family members doing here on our vacation, Zoey? Why can't we find a place to snog, Zoey? These people ask too many questions about us, Zoey!"

Jo-Jo cannot take anymore of Adman's parodying and playfully slaps him on the chest, saying "Adman, stop it!" sternly. "Zoey, you know that in just about an hour or two, K.C. is going to bring Adman's parents here for the reunion, and the rest of Adman's siblings along with _their_ families are come later this evening, and either by late tonight or Friday, _my_ family is coming! It's not hard, Zoey! Just tell Dawn that 'hey, we also have a family reunion here.' She's probably not gonna care one way or the other!"

Jo-Jo then makes the three-step walk towards her daughter, and brings her close to her bosom in an embrace claiming "She loves you, Zoey. If she loves you like you say she does, she won't hold it against you."

'She's right,' Zoey thinks, and a few seconds later, Zoey tells her mother exactly that. "She would want to know. She has a right to know, and as soon as she comes back into the room, I'm gonna tell her about the reunion."

"You promise, Zoey?" Jo-Jo tentatively asks.

"Yeah," Zoey responds, "I promise."

"Zoey," Adman interjects, "There's another important issue that we need to discuss while we have this time together."

"What's that?" Zoey asks, legitimately not knowing what else she and her parents would need to talk about.

"Somebody in this house whose name I will not mention heard something a couple of days back when we first arrived to the house, and this person told me about it the next day when your mother and I went out to breakfast the same day that you and Dawn went out to eat." Adman weighs his next words carefully, but he is determined to get to the bottom of what he is searching for. "Be honest with me, Zoey. I promise that I won't…freak out. During the time we've spent on vacation, have you and Dawn…had sex?"

Zoey relaxes only somewhat upon hearing Adman's question. She answers it with a simple "No, sir," but then considers the fact that indeed she is not being completely honest about her and Dawn's activities in recent days. Instead of being faced with even more questioning and the possibility of being framed as covering up truths by her own parents, Zoey adds in the brief silence, "But…to be honest, we almost did. Have sex, that is. But…Dawn and I mutually agreed to hold off on doing that for now."

"Just what does 'almost having sex' mean, Zoey?" Jo-Jo asks, very interested in hearing how her daughter will respond.

'God, I was hoping neither of them would ask that!' Zoey thinks to herself in a near panic mode. The teen is cornered, with virtually no way to get out. She could have kept her mouth shut about the sexual things that she and Dawn had done while in the beach house, but in Zoey's mind, it was better to let everything be out in the open than to have a surprise revelation later on from Zoey's parents, or even worse, her jealous or angry siblings.

"Almost having sex," Zoey says, beginning her confession, "Means that Dawn and I…on our first night here in the beach house…" Zoey breathes in deeply and continues, "We were naked in the shower together. Dawn came into my private bathroom and kissed me while she was also in the nude. I don't know if it was…the setting, the heat, the steam or what, but…I gave into the kiss for a moment until I asked Dawn what she was doing, and she said 'I just had to tell you the good news; you're parents are gonna allow us to sleep in the same bed together.'"

Jo-Jo and Adman interrupted Zoey's confession by saying "What?" not believing what they were hearing.

"Well," Jo-Jo starts, "That had to be right after Dawn came to us and asked us if she could sleep with you, Zoey! I don't believe this! Dawn said that she could be trusted, and not even five minutes after asking us, she does this? That's going too far, Zoey!"

"I know this," Zoey frustratingly agrees. "I know this, mom, and Dawn and I talked about this the very next morning! We both agreed that we went too far, and both of us were at fault for going too far. I could have said, 'No, Dawn! My parents aren't gonna like this! We're probably gonna regret this in the morning! Maybe it would be a good idea if we waited a while.' I could have said it, but I didn't, and that's _my_ fault! I didn't step up and lay down the line, and that's my fault!"

"Now if Dawn had not laid down the line in _her_ case, I would probably be in here telling you a completely different story! I gotta thank her, because even though she stripped down nude and kissed me while I came out of the shower and fondled me, she made one important point clear as crystal; she told me without dancing around the issue, 'We're not gonna have sex.' Simple as that! And that's the gospel truth! We didn't have sex! We fondled each other in the nude, grabbing various parts of each other's bodies and we made out like bandits, but we didn't have sex! Did we go too far? Yes, we did! Do I regret doing what I did?" Zoey takes a moment to calm down and admits, "Yes, because I violated your trust because I did something that was sexual,"

Zoey pauses as the reality of what she has done begins to sink in. She allowed herself to give into her desires, and seeing her girlfriend make her physically and mentally weak inside. Zoey saw the type of relationship that Kelly and May had, and knew that that was the last type of partnership that she would want with Dawn. She felt as if in part due to Dawn, she had become this sex-crazed girl, and had lost sight of what it meant to have a girlfriend. Zoey brings her head down and starts to tear up.

Her voice breaks as she continues, claiming "I violated your trust by _doing_ something sexual, when you have told me and the rest of the family that it's best to wait," at this point, Zoey starts to cry. Jo-Jo and Adman both notice the tears falling from Zoey's face, and begin to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, mom," Zoey apologizes while in tears. "I'm sorry, dad. I…I don't know what to say. I did exactly what you didn't want me to do, and I feel like crap for doing it."

"Zoey?" Adman says comfortingly, "Zoey, please listen to me. You made a mistake, okay? That's all you did, honey. You may be a world class pokemon coordinator, a millionaire and a role model to many kids and teens out there, but first and foremost, you are a teenager, and that's what teenagers do; they make mistakes! I was no different, you're mother was no different, and Dawn is no different. Rocky and K.C. made mistakes, and I'm sure that Corey and Mikey will make mistakes in the years to come. The most important thing you can do is not necessarily to prevent yourself from making different mistakes, but to learn from your past mistakes so that you don't go out there and make the same mistake over and over again. Do you understand, Zoey?"

"Yeah, I guess," Zoey answers with tears still in her eyes. "But why do I feel so rotten from making this mistake? Why do I feel like…trash?"

"You realize your mistakes," Jo-Jo answers, "And you regret them, as well. So…as odd as it sounds, it's normal for you to feel like trash for now. The important things to remember are that you learn and that you eventually get yourself back together and move onward. Like your father said, you are a teen, and it's not easy to say no to the temptation. You body seems as if it's going at about a 100 miles a minute, and your mind just can't seem to keep up. That's perfectly normal for any teen, but just remember that if you have sex, there is no turning back from that moment. You understand?"

Zoey only nods in agreement, as the feeling of embarrassment still remains prevalent in her thoughts. She is still in tears, but they are nowhere near the frequency that they were after her confession. Her parent's words do have great substance, and make perfect sense. It is okay for her to have those feelings going through her mind. Zoey noticed Dawn in a very sensual, and some may argue sexual nature, and did not know how to respond in that instance. It didn't make her a pervert, a slut, a whore, or anything of the sort. Zoey only did what was natural when you saw an attractive individual who shared the same feelings.

"But…you know that there are now two important things that you have to let Dawn know," Adman tells Zoey. "You first and foremost _have_ to let her know about the family reunion as soon as possible. And the second thing is that later today…your mother and I need to have a talk with Dawn alone, and we want you to tell her this," Zoey gasps, fearful that her parents may punish Dawn for her actions.

"Dad?" Zoey opens in an attempt to persuade Adman from being too harsh on Dawn. "Remember what I said; both Dawn and I take equal blame for things going too far in the shower. Don't punish her if you aren't gonna punish me, too, because I'm just as much in fault, if not more."

Adman is somewhat flustered. "Uh, Zoey? I didn't plan on punishing you or Dawn. Yes, you both crossed the line, but both of you realize this now, right?"

"Yeah," Zoey affirms, "We both regret what we did."

"Then what's a punishment gonna do that you two already haven't?" Adman inquires matter-of-factly. "You're doing exactly what you should do in a relationship; both of you recognized the problem, talked about it, and worked to fix it! A punishment is not gonna stop you two from being together, no matter what your mother and I do!"

"Yeah, you're right," Zoey tells her father. "I'll go tell her now—everything," and Zoey gives both her mother and father a hug and kiss, and leaves her room.

After a few seconds alone in the master bedroom, Jo-Jo asks Adman "Are you sure that not punishing Zoey and Dawn is the right thing to do in this instance? Dawn _was_ the one who specifically told us that she would wait on doing that in her relationship, and then we hear that not even five minutes after that, she and Zoey are making out in the shower nude!"

Adman considers his wife's question and then responds by saying "We don't have to punish them right away. First off, let's consider our conversation with Dawn before we even think about punishment. If…we find out something different or new from Dawn, or their stories don't match up, then…we can consider some sort of punishment for one of them or even both of them, but for now…let's just wait."

* * *

Dawn went outside to continue her conversation with the representative from the offices of pokemon coordinating in private. While she had this time, she also smoked about two cigarettes while speaking to Chris Vale on the phone.

Dawn got the full details of everything that led up to the ultimate decision to declare her the Grand Festival champion, and not May Maple. After a near 15 minute conversation where Dawn and Chris talked about the process and the plans for May to relinquish the trophy and the title to Dawn in an upcoming ceremony, things appear to have made sense for Dawn in some respects, but the reality of her accomplishment still has not quite set in for the teen. She thanks Chris for the call, and slowly hangs up the cellular.

After a moment of silence, Dawn quiet as a mouth says the words "I'm the Grand Festival Champion." She then questions herself, asking "I'm the Grand Festival Champion?" Dawn then gleefully squeals and jumps up in the air multiple times in almost pure delight. It happened. She accepted it, and worked hard over the past seven years to make it happen, and it happened. She won, and could not be happier that she did, although she did feel for May, who has now gone to nine Grand Festival finals in her long career without winning a single one, Dawn has a feeling that May will come back and recover from this incident stronger than ever, and even more determined to get that first Grand Festival.

Dawn's joviality is derailed somewhat when she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. Quickly pulling it out, she sees the name and number on the outer screen and opens the phone. She asks "Mom?"

Indeed, Dawn's mother Johanna Berlitz is on the other line of the phone. Dawn had called her mother often during the trip, and Johanna was kept informed of most of the activities and goings on between Dawn, Zoey and the rest of the Neale family. Johanna had also been informed about Dawn's conflicts with Rocky, to which Dawn claimed that there was no need to worry, as Zoey's parents and various other siblings have stepped up to moderate any tension.

"Dawn, honey?" Johanna responds. "How are you doing? Is everything alright in Seafoam?"

"Everything's great, mom!" Dawn says with controlled elation. "Did you hear the news, mom?"

"Yes, I know, Dawn," Johanna answers emotionally. "Congratulations Dawn, but…there's something very important that you need to know. I was just reminded of it when I looked on the calendar."

"What? What is it, mom?" Dawn inquires with a good amount of concern.

"Today is June 7th, Dawn," Johanna states.

"So?" Dawn says, relatively unimpressed at the buildup that her mother made just to tell her what the date is for today. It's not as if June 7th was any more significant than any other upcoming date.

"Dawn," Johanna retorts, not believing that her daughter could have forgotten a date as important as this one. "June the 7th. Remember? Who went away to jail on June 7th about two years ago?"

Hearing this perhaps rhetorical question from her mother was enough to jolt Dawn's memory. She remembers the significance of June 7th now, and cannot believe that she had forgotten it over the course of the vacation. Recollecting on that unfortunate time period and having those memories swim back into her head once more causes Dawn to exclaim "Oh, shit!" without even having to think about it.

In any other instance, Johanna would have immediately scolded her daughter for cursing like she just did, but this is most certainly not any other instance.

Dawn is now pacing along the walkway that leads to the front awning and canopy of the house. She is shaking in fear, knowing that today is the day that her ex-boyfriend gets released from jail.

"Now, Dawn," Johanna assures, "Calm down. Kenny has been away from television, news and the like for the last two years. There's no reason to think that he's gonna come after you. Besides, how's he gonna get to the Seafoam Islands? He doesn't know that you're there. Very few people do, Dawn! And…as long as you stay where you are for now, you should be safe. Okay?"

Dawn, who is now shivering in fear, says "Okay," to her mom.

"Just remember," Johanna continues, "Don't tell people where you are, and no one will know where you are, okay? The ball is in your court, Dawn. You did the right thing turning in Kenny and testifying against him, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about. And to make you feel any better, if he comes around my way, I know how to dial 9-1-1, but I doubt it will come to that. Besides, Kenny has to go to mandatory counseling and live in a halfway house for a few months, and then get cleared by the various departments, so…you have nothing to worry about, for now, Dawn. I don't want this to ruin your vacation. Just continue to have fun, okay? If there is _anything_ that I don't want you worrying about, it's the fact that Kenny is getting out of jail. You're done with Kenny. You made your testimony, and he got exactly what he deserved. You did nothing wrong, Dawn."

"Look," Johanna says, breaking the silence between her and Dawn, "All you can do is hope and pray that he has no malice for you doing the right thing, and that he gets the proper counseling upon leaving prison. That's all I've got to say, Dawn. Will you be alright?"

Calmed down, but only somewhat, Dawn answers her mother "Yes, ma'am. I'll do my best to just relax. Besides, he's several hours away and has no idea I'm here. I'll keep my head up and I'll speak with you later, mom. Deal?"

"Deal," Johanna says, trying to be cheerful for her daughter's sake, but failing in every aspect. "I'll let you know of anything that happens when he first gets out. Okay?"

"Okay. Bye mom," Dawn concludes.

"Good bye, dear," says Johanna, and then both of them hang up their phones. After a second to breathe and consider the circumstances, Dawn falls to her knees and covers her face, as she cries harder than when she was just on the phone with her mother.

"He could kill me," Dawn sobs out of her mouth. "He could kill me, and I wouldn't blame him if he did."

"Dawn?" a voice calls out from the front of the house. Dawn turns her glare to the front of the house, and sees her girlfriend Zoey.

Zoey, seeing the state of Dawn at that moment acted quickly "Dawn!" she exclaims as she ran like the wind to get to her girlfriend. The first thing that Zoey noticed was the fact that Dawn was shaking and on the ground, and when she finally got to Dawn, the first thing she asks is "Are you okay, Dawn?" Zoey then sits her up on the ground and tightly embraces her, saying "What happened? Why are you out here on the ground crying? What's going on?"

Feeling the warm and comforting embrace of her girlfriend, Dawn calms down slowly but surely. Zoey continues to assure Dawn that everything's okay, saying "its okay, Dawn. Just let it out if you need to. Take your time, dear. Whatever it is, we'll get through it together."

After a few minutes, Dawn settles down and in her mind, appears ready to open up to Zoey about a new problem that has seemingly re-arisen in her life. "Right now, Zoey…I'm not really in a position to say exactly what's wrong with me, but will you promise me something, nevertheless?"

Zoey takes a look into the eyes of Dawn and responds, "Of course. No problem. It…it seems like whatever this is, it's really upsetting you, though. Are you sure you don't want to tell me what it is? The worst thing that could happen is that I know what's going on, and I can help you out to the best of my ability."

"I…I just can't tell you right now, Zoey," Dawn sniffles. "I hope that you understand."

"It's _that_ bad?" Zoey inquires curiously, to which Dawn nods. "No worries, Dawn. Whatever happens, I'll protect you. I just…I wish I knew what it was that went down," Zoey laments. "It could help me better protect you and it could help you better relax."

"That's…exactly what my mom talked about with me earlier. She knows about it, and she said to just relax, because he has no idea that I'm here."

"Am I correct in assuming that this has something to do with one of your ex-boyfriends, Dawn?" Zoey mentions hypothetically.

"Yeah, it does," Dawn breathes.

Zoey at this point has stayed with Dawn outside of the house for about the last 5-10 minutes. Knowing that she came outside to tell her the things that her parents demanded that she say, Zoey asks Dawn "Are you…are you okay to come back into the house? There are actually a few things that I have to tell you that I haven't been exactly honest about."

"What are they?" Dawn intriguingly inquires.

Zoey gets up from the ground and tells Dawn "I'll let you know when we get inside." Zoey then brings her right hand to Dawn's direction. Getting her hint, Dawn takes the near hand, and comes up to Zoey's level, standing back up on her two feet. Once both partners are up, Zoey brings Dawn's head close to her bosom and the pair walks to the front door and back into the house. The destination being back to Zoey's room so that Dawn can calm down some more away from any speculative eyes.

* * *

Led by only one prison officer to the entrance of the corrections facility, he arrives to his destination. He is 16 year old Kenneth Oliver Dalton, known by friends and associates alike by the nickname Kenny. Not having gone this direction through the prison walls before, the feeling is foreign, but the anticipation is not something that the still young man fears.

This is the day that he has looked forward to for over the last two years, and it has finally arrived for him. After some final instructions from the warden in attendance, Kenny will be a free individual once more. Going through the final door of several winding corridors in the last five minutes, Kenny is walked to a chair situated at the front desk of the corrections office, handcuffed by the wrists, and quieter than a moment of silence.

During this journey to his freedom, Kenny has not yet smiled. In his mind, the journey is far from over, and this is just the first stop for him along the way. Truth be told, Kenny does not believe that he has just cause to smile until he takes care of his unfinished business. Until then, he can only look and listen to his surroundings as his accompanying officer requests that Kenny have a seat, and then he finally removes Kenny's handcuffs as the warden walks in with several manila folders.

The warden does not immediately take a look at Kenny upon entering the room; rather he speaks a few words to the accompanying officer, who then speaks a few words back to the warden before he leaves out of the same door in which he arrived. The officer shuts the door behind him, and then the warden finally looks at Kenny dead in the eyes. His look does not suggest any form of malice or disgust towards Kenny, but doesn't suggest a feeling of cordiality between the two parties, either.

Taking a deep breath, the warden then walks closer to the convict, and states the name "Kenneth Oliver Dalton," without expecting a response. The warden then sits down in a seat behind an office desk and continues, saying "I must say that you have made tremendous progress while here. I know that this is the last place that you or any other young male or female like yourself would like to end up in, but of all the youth that I've come across in the last 10-15 years as a prison warden, nobody in that time has shown the desire to leave quite like you have. It's refreshing. I try to get it into the minds of youth today that this is not the place that you want to end up in, period, but if you do end up here, it is in your best interests to recognize what brought you here and stop that behavior. You do know what brought you here, right?"

Kenny is somewhat apprehensive to answer the question. In past occurrences and run-ins with the staff of the prison he has called home for the past two years, answering a question without being prompted to do so would cause him some minor bodily harm, including, but not limited to being slapped by the barrel of a gun.

But when the warden gives a hand signal which suggests that Kenny can answer the question poised to him, Kenny becomes more comfortable, and then tells the warden "Yes. I know exactly why I am here." Kenny then thinks to himself 'It's that bitch Dee Dee's fault that I'm here.' But Kenny addendums his spoken comments by saying "I got involved with drugs, but never again. I guarantee you this."

The warden shows Kenny the trace of a smile, and then tells Kenny "I will now present you the items which you came here with two years ago," and the warden goes to one of several locked boxes, unlocking it and reading over the list of the items, which included the clothes that he came in with, which in all likelihood no longer fit him, $28 in bank notes and $4 in change, along with a metal whistle, several forms of identification inside of a black wallet, and a dog tag with the Roman Numeral 'V' emblazoned on both sides. His final instructions are to take a shower, fill out some paperwork specifying his living arrangements and Kenny was finally allowed to walk out of the prison at 1pm that afternoon.

Kenny's first act as a free individual was not to arrive to his halfway house; rather he went to a nearby pay phone to make a call. Wearing his dog tag, he looks at the numbers on the tag, which are actually stamped on the tag in Braille so as not to be to conspicuous to the tag wearer. Dialing the right combination of numbers, and going hearing several instructions about identification numbers, purposes for calling and other instructions from the automated telephone directory, Kenny finally hears a human voice say "Offices of Avenue Five. How may I help you, Mr. Dalton?"

Kenny is happy to be able to get through and take his first steps to get back at the person who put him in jail. He tells the female telephone representative "Yes. I need to get some overrides for a pesky parole and living in a halfway house. I just wanted to know how I went about doing that. Would I have a better shot if I went to one of the offices and showed you all of my paperwork?"

"Heading to the offices would be your best bet, Mr. Dalton," says the rep.

"Thanks. I'm closest to the Hoenn region right now, so that would mean that I'd have to go to Rustboro City, right?"

"That would be your best bet, sir."

"Thanks, and thank you for all your help," Kenny tells the lady on the other end of the line.

"Not a problem, sir," answers the woman. "And, sir? Let me say that it's great to have you back."

Although Kenny does not know the woman on the other end of the line, he thanks him for the comment, and hangs up the phone. Checking his surroundings, Kenny finds that he is not that far from Rustboro City and that by just walking for one day or so he will get to the offices of Avenue Five so they can clear him of his post-prison duties.

* * *

"Like I told you outside, Dawn," Zoey begins as the pair sits at the foot of Zoey's bed, "There is something that I haven't particularly been honest about as it pertains to this trip."

Curiously, Dawn asks Zoey "Just what does that mean?"

"Promise you won't freak out when I tell you this, okay?" Zoey questions, looking Dawn square into the eyes. Dawn nods her head, giving Zoey the affirmation she needs, and Zoey continues "This trip is more than just a summer retreat for my nuclear family. It…it actually doubles as the Baker-Neale family reunion for this long weekend. I wanted to be the one who told you this because I didn't want you to be overwhelmed with the fact that you would also be meeting about 500 members of my extended family and friends."

Not knowing how to read minds, Zoey is unsure as to how Dawn is taking the news about the added events of the trip. Wanting to get down to the bottom of Dawn's opinion of her news, Zoey expedites the process and asks Dawn "So? What do you have to say about my news?"

Dawn, whose attention is admittedly split between what Zoey just told her and one Kenny Dalton, shakes herself from her lack of focus and weighs Zoey's words. In all likelihood, with the world about five days removed from kissgate, it is likely that Zoey's extended family knows that Zoey and Dawn shared an on air kiss. With the initial shock value gone, a family reunion to Dawn sounds like a nice change of pace, and could do a world of good in helping her turn her thoughts away from Kenny getting out of jail.

"I'm fine with it," Dawn admits, "Though…what made you think that I'd be overwhelmed by your family reunion?"

"Well," Zoey explains, "When I first suggested that you come with me on vacation, I could tell that you were very emotional, especially when we saw the TV and all of these strangers talk badly about our relationship. I thought that if you knew that you were now coming with me to see much of my family right after seeing the news reports, you might have reconsidered coming here."

Remembering that Monday morning quite vividly, Dawn smiles to Zoey and tells her "You're right, Zoey. I was a wreck that day and…knowing that I'd go from there to a reunion with complete strangers would have probably been a big turnoff." Dawn leans forward and hugs Zoey telling her girlfriend "Thank you for being so considerate."

Zoey responds to the praise telling Dawn "I'll always put you first, Dawn. It's worth it just to see that smile on your face." Remembering the other important information that her parents wanted Zoey to tell Dawn, Zoey becomes somewhat apprehensive, but nevertheless informs Dawn "There's one other piece of information that I need to tell you."

Dawn lets go of Zoey, asking "There's more?"

"It's not so much a secret," Zoey clarifies, "Than it is some unfortunate news." Zoey leans in closer to Dawn so that she doesn't have to speak too loudly and continues "Remember on Tuesday night when we first got to the house and had that…moment in the shower?"

Dawn chuckles for a bit before saying "How could I forget?"

"Well…someone in this house apparently heard us and told my parents about it," Zoey shamefully relives.

Dawn cannot believe that she and Zoey's activities have become the knowledge of three outsiders. Dawn is shocked enough that she mouths the word 'Fuck' out of frustration.

As Zoey further explains to Dawn "They initially thought that we had sex, but I told them the truth that all we did was nude fondling. We talked about it, and right now, my parents are not going to punish us for what we did. Mom and dad do want to speak with you alone, however. That's the second thing that I needed to tell you. "

Embarrassed knowing that Zoey and Dawn's mistake is common knowledge to a few choice people; Dawn puts her head down in shame. Zoey pats Dawn's near shoulder and tells her "There, there. It's okay. Like I said; mom and dad haven't punished us. All they told me earlier while you were out taking that phone call is that they wanted to speak with you."

"Just a talk with your folks?" Dawn confirms, to which Zoey tells her yes.

Dawn gets up from the bed and kisses her girlfriend, telling her "Let's get this over with. Wish me luck," as she walks out of the master bedroom to find Zoey's parents and have her talk.

* * *

During the ride back home from helping his mother with several of her errands, the only thing that Max could think about is how to get Kelly Mordetsky alone to let her know that he knows of the affair that she is having with his sister.

Arriving to the front door, Kelly is the first one that notices that her limousine is missing. What surprises everyone else inside of the car is that Kelly does not respond at all to the absence of the stretch car that everyone else expected would be positioned by the front of the house.

Drew is the only one daring enough to break the silence and says "Uh, Kelly? You _do_ realize that your limo is not here, right?"

Kelly simply responds "Yep."

Caroline then takes her turn and asks Kelly, "Well, shouldn't you be concerned?"

Kelly snickers for a moment as the van that Caroline, Drew, Kelly and Max are riding in comes to a stop and the ignition is turned off. She answers Caroline by saying "Nah. Gordon does this all the time. He'll take the limo out for a joyride or two. But I'm a little surprised, though. Gordon would often call ahead before he would take the limo out--wait a minute." Kelly then quickly digs into her purse. She finds her cell phone and opens it to find out the brutal truth.

"Aw, man! I've left my cell phone off all day!" As Kelly turns the phone on, she further laments her gaffe, saying "There's no telling how many phone calls I've missed today!" After waiting about 30 seconds or so for the phone to load, Kelly finds that she has only missed a total of two calls, and one of the people who called left a voicemail. Listening to that voicemail message, Kelly finds out from Gordon that indeed he took the limo out for an unspecified emergency, and that he would not be back until late. Kelly had no problem with it. Things would arise that would require such actions, so she decided to not press the issue until she saw Gordon later.

"I was right," Kelly tells the rest of her traveling partners as they unload the vehicle of its groceries. "My driver took the limo out for an emergency. No worries, though. I wasn't really planning on going anywhere. So, I'll probably just spend the rest of the day with May."

'Over my dead fucking body, you will,' Max scornfully ponders.

Drew obliviously responds to Kelly's double-meaning comment by saying "Not if I beat you to the punch, Kelly!" and he punctuates this comment by lightly punching Kelly on her left shoulder.

Max feels for Drew, who has absolutely no idea what Kelly really meant behind her comment concerning his girlfriend. 'If you only knew, Drew,' is all he can muster in his thoughts as he again watches Kelly and Drew play fight with each other. Max then gets a few more bags before going to the front door and opening it. Caroline had bought quite a bit in her trip to the grocery store, and Max thought it would be good for them to have a helping hand or two in May.

Stepping inside of his home, Max calls out to various parts of the house. He screams "May? May? Could you help us out here? We've got quite a few groceries and we need some help!" to no response. Checking May's room, he comes to the conclusion that May is not home. Going back into the living room area, he checks the answering machine, and sees the red flashing light on the top, telling him that someone had called earlier and left a message.

Max hits the button to play the messages back and the machine says "You have one new message," before he hears a beep. The voice in the message is immediately recognized by Max as is older sister, and the message states "Hey family. This is May. I'm leaving this message to let you know that I'm going to be out for the rest of the day. I don't know if you know this, but I just found out that I lost the Grand Festival after the board's official review. I've got no hard feelings, though. It could have really gone either way. I'll be back by tonight. I love you all. Bye, now."

"Oh, no," Max says dismally. He puts his head down and pounds the countertop, lamenting "I was afraid this would happen."

"Max, what's wrong?" says a female voice coming from the front door. Max turns around to see Kelly by herself. 'It's my time,' Max thinks to himself. 'She's alone. I can drop the bombshell right now. But…how?'

Kelly comes closer to Max and asks "Max, are you sure you're alright? You look like you're about to cry." When Kelly goes to pat Max on the back, he finds his opening. Max slaps Kelly's hand away and says "Don't touch me, Kelly!"

"Max, what's gotten into you?" Kelly inquires. "You've been on edge for the last two days or so! What's going on?"

Max shakes in absolute anger and then points his finger at Kelly. He finally lets his feelings be known in an undeniable command, telling Kelly without hesitation or apprehension to "Kelly, I know what you've been doing, and as God as my witness, it's gonna end, now! Stay the fuck away from my sister, Kelly! I mean it!"

Kelly doesn't exactly know how to react to Max's command and says "What are you talking about, Max? Stay away from your sister? Why?"

"Why?" Max asks, in an 'as if you didn't know' way, "You've been having sex with my sister behind Drew's back," Max says careful not to let the cat out of the bag unless both Kelly and May are there to confess to Drew, "and it's gonna stop right now." Kelly gasps in absolute shock. For some unknown reason, she and May have been found out by Max Maple.

Covering her face in shame, Kelly can only mutter the words "You're fucking delusional, man!" before she laughs at the absurdity of what Max is speaking as a means of not blowing her cover. Truth be told, she is scared to death knowing that everything that Max is saying is true. Kelly's main objective is to try and convince Max as best as she can that the idea of her 'fucking May behind Drew's back' is an insane thought. "Me and your sister? No way, Jose. That's not to say that May isn't quite…attractive, but I don't swing that way."

"Bullshit!" Max exclaims. Seemingly relaying Kelly's life story back to her, Max continues, saying that "There are people out there that I know very well who have said that you've known that you're a lesbian since you were about four years old! You have a tattoo of an upside-down black triangle on your right shoulder. That's a pro-lesbian symbol, Kelly!"

"I'm pro-gay rights and pro-civil rights, Max!" Kelly falsely clarifies. "I have quite a few family members who are gay or lesbian, and that's why I have the tattoo, all right? I am not gay, and I've never even thought of having sex with your sister! We're best friends. That's…it!" she then thinks to herself 'fucking pervert,' as if she were trying to convince herself that Max was buying into her story.

Kelly is not able to accurately read Max's face for certain, but notices that the younger boy is moving closer towards her. Wondering why Drew and Caroline have not yet come inside, Kelly starts to become even more noticeably worrisome than before Max made his shocking declaration.

Max then whispers into Kelly's ear the words that equate to the smoking gun to May and Kelly's indiscretions. They are "What about the Dyke Clubs that you've started, Kelly?" And in some respects risking his relationship with Misty becoming public knowledge, he also asks Kelly "What about the Dyke Clubs that my girlfriend was a part of some years ago?"

With this remark from Max, Kelly can no longer contain her shock. 'How in the world was Max able to find out about the Dyke Clubs?' she thought to herself.

When Max sees the disorientation on Kelly's face, he knows that he has caught Kelly in a more than compromising position. Max smiles in the face of his accomplishment, knowing that he is one step closer to cracking the case of his cheating sister and her mystery girlfriend. The fact that his mother or Drew still had not yet come inside the house gave him even more confidence. He didn't worry about them yet, because in his mind, he had more important things to worry about than getting the rest of the groceries inside of the house.

Looking at the sage smile on the face of Max, Kelly knows that without even having to say a single word, she has given off too much. Deciding to skirt the issue for as long as she possibly can, Kelly asks Max while keeping an eye on the open front door "How the hell do you know about the Dyke Clubs?"

"I already told you," Max answers, while likewise carefully looking at the door for Caroline and Drew, "My girlfriend was a part of the Dyke Clubs. She told me all about you and your fuck fests with my sister!"

"Who's your girlfriend?" Kelly interjects, but before Max could answer with a response of 'None of your business,' a cell phone rings. Kelly knows that it is not her cell phone; as she keeps the ringer on vibrate.

After two rings, Kelly asks Max "Why don't you get your phone, Max? Whoever it is has to be waiting for your call."

Max lightly shakes his head and then points his right index finger, saying "Don't ever fucking tell me what to do. You understand?" Taking his finger away, he gets his phone out of his pocket and tells Kelly "We're not done." Max then goes to the corridor that leads to his room and leaves Kelly in the living room.

When Kelly is sure that Max is out of the way, she pounds her right fist onto the kitchen countertop and exclaims a choice obscenity. Kelly then puts her head down onto the countertop and whispers "The jig might be up, Georgia May," while the indications of tears begin to form in the eyes of the purple-haired businesswoman.

Then a voice that the girl is sure does not belong to Max says "Kelly, what happened?" Kelly turns around to find Drew by the door carrying about four or five bags of groceries. Drew noticed Kelly in an almost defeated position and again asks her "Did something happen? Did you hear the news, too?"

"What news," asks Kelly dumbfounded?

Drew puts his head down for a moment before he says "I…Mrs. Maple and I got a voicemail and a text message that both said that May's victory in the Grand Festival is being overturned by the sanctioning body."

"What?" Kelly exclaims. "But—but how? How could they do that to her? I saw the Grand Festival, and Meridian and panel of five judges declared her the winner fair and square!"

"That's what I thought too," says Caroline who is now at the front door with the remainder of the groceries, "but apparently the offices had another idea, or they're very easily swayed by big names like Ash Ketchum."

Kelly is absolutely bewildered by everything that she is hearing from both Drew and Caroline, but she has not time to respond to this new news as much like Max just scant minutes ago, her cell phone is ringing.

Getting her phone out of her pocket, Kelly comments to Drew and Caroline "Forgive me. I have to take this. It might be business." Kelly opens her phone and says hello to the person on the other end of the line.

Kelly's mood changes after a few seconds, however, when she hears the person on the other end speak. "Oh! Hi, mom!" about 20 seconds pass, when Kelly says the words "Oh my God!" in absolute shock. Yet another 10 seconds pass, and Drew and Caroline start to become wary of the facial expressions on Kelly's face as the person who they can only assume is Kelly's mother based on her remark while on the phone. "I—I…I promise, mom! I'll be there as soon as I can. Take care for now, and please consider going to the hospital." Drew and Caroline gasp, anticipating the worst. "Don't be so stubborn, mom. Good bye. I'll see you soon." Kelly hangs up her phone and interjects "God!"

Wanting to get to the bottom of what is causing Kelly such frustration; Drew asks "What's up?"

* * *

"So you understand now, Misty?" Max questions while talking to his girlfriend on the phone. "It's best that you take as much time as you need off. You're sick, you talk about having thrown up all day, and it's only noon time; it's best that you just take it easy for now." Max listens to Misty on the phone for a few seconds. He laughs at one of Misty's comments and explains "Well, they're your sisters. It's sort of like their birth right to tease and torment you. Kind of like off comes the cord, on comes the arrogance," and Max laughs at his spontaneous joke. Listening to his belle for another 10 seconds, he concludes his talk and tells Misty "Just be sure to keep the bucket close to your bed if you're still vomiting, and call me back whenever. Okay, honey? Good bye love," and hangs up the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Max sighs while he sits down at the foot of the bed and proceeds to lay his entire body down. "What the fuck?" Max laments. Max does not stay laid out on the bed for a long time, as he hears footsteps heading down the corridor that leads to the bedrooms. Curious, Max gets up, and checks each room before he comes to May's room, where Kelly has been staying for the past several days.

Opening the door without checking, Max sees that Kelly is quickly packing all of her things into her two suitcases.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going, Kelly?"

Kelly turns around and tells Max "I need to get home as soon as I can. My mother Sonya is ill, and I need to get home ASAP." Kelly shuts her suitcases and heads for the door, but Max blocks her at every chance she tries to leave May's room. "If you don't mind, _Max_, I need to go."

Max continues to block Kelly from leaving the room. Frustrated, Kelly says "I need to go, Max. This isn't a fucking joke! My mother needs me!"

"Bull, Kelly!" Max retorts. "You're just trying to escape me, because I know the truth. You _are_ a lesbian, and you've been having sex with my sister for the past six years behind her boyfriend's back. Do you know what that makes you, Kelly?"

"I haven't called you any names, Max," Kelly clarifies, "So don't you even try it, okay? You call me outside of my name, and I guaran-damn-tee you that I will not be held responsible for my actions. Do you understand? Now first of all, keep it down, all right?"

Kelly shrugs her shoulders, and continues, "Yeah, you've figured me out to a 'T', Max. I _am_ a lesbian, and I have been having sex with, making love to, fucking your sister, whatever the hell you want to call it, I've done it since 2006. Is that what you wanna know, because if so, then that's all that I have to tell you."

Max smiles in a mood of accomplishment knowing that Kelly has confessed to him, but is curious as to why she would reveal all of this to him as if she didn't care. "Wait a minute, Kelly. Now you had a big problem with telling me this earlier; telling me that you were gay and you've had sex with May for as long as you have. What—what changed?"

Kelly lets go of her suitcases, lightly placing both of them on the ground, and sighs. Appearing to answer Max's question, she says "What changed was…you, Max."

Max has no idea to respond to Kelly's answer. It was Max? Max was the reason why Kelly decided to come clean about her indiscretions? "What was it about me that caused you to…come clean?"

Kelly turns away from Max. Without a doubt, what she plans to do is risky and could cause her more harm than good, but it is worth a shot to not only save the reputation of her girlfriend, but to save her public image, as well. Unfortunately, the world of pokemon was behind the times in her mind as far as the treatment and the perception of people like her. Kelly often had to resort to measures to make sure that none of the members of her Dyke Clubs would blow the whistle on her sexual orientation, like digging up dirt on many people that she considered best friends of hers. While Max is by no means a friend of Kelly's, Max did reveal that she knew of Kelly's clubs, because his girlfriend was a part of them. Kelly feels that if she can find out Max's girlfriend's identity, then she could use it against Max to keep him from squealing to Drew or the Maples.

Kelly finally brings her glaze back to the impatient Max Maple and admits "It—it was…your girlfriend," and before Max can even comment, Kelly pushes Max to the ground and digs into his pockets.

"Hey!" Max exclaims, "I thought you were gay!" Max then feels Kelly's hand reach for his cell phone, and understands why Kelly made that comment about his girlfriend.

"Kelly, don't!" Max attempts to dissuade. "That's my phone, damn it!" and as Max attempts to get up from the floor and get his phone back, he trips on one of May's loose bandanas, and comically falls back on his face. This gives Kelly the ample time to view Max's speed dial list, and find both the number to the Cerulean City gym, and the cell phone number of a girl named 'Misty', along with Max's family and friends.

Getting the information that she needed, Kelly shuts Max's phone and gently tosses it into his direction. "So," Kelly begins, now touting her own ammunition, "Misty Waterflower is your girlfriend? Wow! I would have thought that she would have gone for Ash Ketchum. He's all that she ever talked about during our brief time together."

"No, Kelly!" Max denounces. "Misty is just a very good friend."

"Oh, really?" Kelly questions, unconvinced of Max's response. Kelly points to the shut door of May's room and asks Max "Your…mother wouldn't happen to know about your 'very good friend', would she?"

As Kelly moves closer and closer to the door, Max becomes more and more aware of the situation at hand. His mother would more than likely want to delve deeper into the relationship that he has with the Cerulean City gym leader, and Max knows that the deeper that she delves, the more that she is not going to like.

Max makes the difficult decision and calls out Kelly's name before she can open the door and spill the beans about his relationship with Misty, even if Kelly told Caroline that their partnership is platonic in nature when nothing could be further from the truth.

Max walks to Kelly and calmly admits "Misty _is_ my girlfriend, and we have to keep it a secret because I'm underage. Please don't tell anyone, or Misty will go to jail because of the laws in place. I'll do anything. I'll even…" Max grits his teeth, as he plans to do exactly what he said he shouldn't and wouldn't do, "I'll keep your relationship with my sister secret. I love Misty that much, that I'm willing to do _that_. Just…please don't tell." Max appears to almost be on the verge of tears.

Kelly doesn't know how to react. This behavior shown by Max has completely thrown her for a loop, as she believed that Max had more or less of a one track mind when it came to the things that he loved, but Kelly saw that Max either has or is beginning to gravitate away from his family and closer to his mate, who in this case is Misty.

"Okay," Kelly starts. "You're secret is safe with me, as long as my secret is safe with you, right?" Max just nods. Kelly then reaches for her suitcases and tells Max "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to Lilycove City and see my mother. Drew is gonna take me in his car, if you're wondering. I'll see you around." Before Kelly can leave the room, however, Max touches her right shoulder from behind.

"Wait a minute," Max informs Kelly. "I have one final request. You're seeing your mother, right? This…isn't some sort of ploy to get me off of your back right?"

"No," Kelly affirms. "I wouldn't joke about my family when it comes to something as serious as health."

"Then," Max continues "You won't mind me coming along with you and Drew for the ride, right?"

"What?" Kelly asks not expecting that request from Max.

* * *

"Gordon," a female voice calls out. "Gordon! Wake up! We're here!"

"Huh," asks a sleeping Gordon in the passenger's area of the limo? Once he sees May, he questions "May, what's going on?"

May answers the chauffer while the limo's ignition is turned off and the car has been parked at a strip mall that is just on the outskirts of town, "We made it to Pallet Town. I've got some unfinished business I've got to take care of, so I'm not sure how long it's gonna be before I come back." May looks at her watch and continues "It's about…2:30pm. Meet me back here in about an hour. Until then, you can do whatever you want. May exits the driver's side of the limo, but before she closes the door, she gets her items from the house, including the ski mask, gloves, and the baseball bat, and tells Gordon that she'll be back soon, while she takes Kelly's set of keys out of the ignition, and closes the driver's side limo door.

The final piece of the puzzle to exacting her revenge on Ash Ketchum is to, of course, find Ash Ketchum. The first place that May thinks to look is his mother's house.

* * *

After over an hour of a semi-formal lunch at a nearby restaurant in Pallet, Ash, his girlfriend Jessica, Ash's mother Delia, Professor Oak, Brock, James, his grandson Gary, and Oak's assistant Tracey all appear to be ready for the check to head back to their respective homes. Earlier that morning, Ash successfully got the final element to make this entire afternoon rank among the best in his entire life. After informing all of the people at his table of his plans with the obvious exception of his girlfriend, he arranged a special way of proposing to Jessica with the restaurant that they were more than happy to go along with.

"You know, Ash," Jessica explains, "This has been real good; the time that we get to spend with each other that is. But it's not just the time we get to spend together that I love. I love the fact that…" Jessica pauses in a moment of emotion, "I love the fact that I feel like I am now a part of your extended family. You've said and they've said that they have accepted me, but…I feel it now."

"Jess," Ash clarifies while holding her in her arms, "The day that you became my girlfriend and the love of my life," Ash signals to the garcon by the door to the kitchen the signal to bring out the surprise for Jessie, "That's the day that you became a part of my family. I promise you, I'll work for your happiness everyday."

When Ash finishes his mini speech, two male waiters arrive to Ash's table with a very large covered dish. "Pardon me, Miss," says the slightly taller waiter, "but the owner of this establishment could not help but notice how much in love you two are. It's not often that he does this, but he has decided to give you at absolutely no cost his very special dessert for couples only." The two waiters then sit the covered dish in front of Jessie. The dish, whatever it may be appears to be very heavy, as it takes nearly 30 seconds for the transition from serving dish to table to be made. The task was arduous enough to cause both busboys to break more than just a passing sweat. "Enjoy your dessert, ma'am," both waiters say in unison as they leave the table area.

Jessie has no idea how to react to the extremely large plate in front of her. Obviously, due to the covering on top, she has no idea what it is. Because of this, she is hesitant to even open the dish, considering the fact that she is not a big fan of surprises.

"Well," Ash says, growing impatient, but only somewhat impatient, "Aren't you gonna open it, and see what it is? Besides," Ash then caresses parts of Jessie's hand with his fingers "The waiters did say that this dish is for couples only. I'd…really like to share it with you."

Looking at the playful and almost innocent demeanor of her boyfriend is more than enough to convince Jessie to open the dish. "Okay," she smiles to Ash. She holds onto the top of the lid, saying "Let's see what we're gonna partake of today," and removes the lid from the dish to find the last thing that she expected to see on her table. She's so shocked, the only words that come out of her mouth for the next 30 seconds are "Oh my God!"

* * *

Walking up to the Ketchum residence, May, who now is wearing the ski mask, black clothing and the gloves and has the baseball bat in her left hand notices that Mrs. Ketchum's car is not next to the driveway, where it would normally be. Shrugging it off, she walks to the front door. As May looked to ring the doorbell, on nothing more than a hunch, she goes to turn the doorknob and it opens.

Elated but guarded in her excitement, she softly declares "Ha! I knew it! People in small towns don't lock their doors. This is too fucking easy." May walks into the house, careful to remain as quiet as a mouse to make the hit. Fully realizing that she is nearing her point of return, she feels a rush of adrenaline pump through her blood comparable the rush that she would get after one of her world class workouts. Slowly tiptoeing through the Ketchum house, she finds that after searching for about three minutes that nobody is home.

Undaunted, May checks around certain parts of the house to check for any evidence that can lead her to Ash or Delia's whereabouts. When she goes back into Ash's room, she finds exactly what she is looking for. Apparently, Ash has listed on a weekly planner that he had lying on his dresser drawer a 1:30 to 3:30pm timeslot that is checked off as 'Lunch + Proposal'.

May smiles at the accomplishment, telling herself "Well, that asshole is involved in a lot of businesses. He might just be doing a business proposal over some lunch," May pauses to twirl the baseball bat in her hands, saying "Like I will." The name of the restaurant and the address of the restaurant are both familiar to her, as she has gone there with Ash and Kelly on lunch dates in the past. Armed with all of the information that she needs, she carefully puts everything that she moved back into place, and leaves the Ketchum house, closing the door, but like either Ash or Delia, she leaves the door unlocked.

* * *

Jessie would be the first person to admit that she is by absolutely no means a fan of surprises, but she had to hand it to whoever came up with the idea. When Jessie opened the dish, which she assumed would be a very large dessert, she instead found her old feline partner in crime, Meowth.

"Ash!" Jessie exclaims, making them the only words in about the last half a minute she has said that are not 'Oh my God', "How did you do this? Was this your idea?"

Instead of hearing from Ash, the feline pokemon answers for the trainer, saying his familiar laconic catchphrase "That's right! Ashy boy here made some calls to his daddy dearest Giovanni in Viridian City, and—well he can explain the rest. Giovanni?"

Giovanni enters the restaurant area to the surprise of everyone at the table with the exception of Ash, Delia and Meowth gasp in absolute surprise to see the former Team Rocket leader in the midst. "Indeed, Meowth!" Giovanni responds to the pokemon. As Giovanni goes to sit down next to Tracey Sketchit, he continues, saying "When I heard about what Ash planned for this afternoon, I just had to be here to see it."

"But," Jessie interrupts, "This is just an afternoon lunch, and we've all eaten! What else would you be here to see?"

Ash knows that it is now or never to make all of his dreams of having a family with Jessica come true. When he hears the question from Jessica, the butterflies in his stomach are flying to and fro faster than speeding bullets, but if you were to ask him, he'd say that he's never been better. "Meowth, I believe you have something that belongs to Jessica. Will you do the honors?"

"Will do, Ash," says Meowth, and the cat pokemon proceeds to pull a small black box from a pouch in his fur. Meowth takes this box and presents it to Jessica, saying "Well, open it," while Ash gets up from his seat for a moment.

Curious, but gaining some clear interest, Jessie takes the box from Meowth's paw, takes a minute to examine the outside and then opens it. Jessie gasped at the sight of the object inside of the box. The carbon rock shined mightily and the yellow gold glowed with delight. Before she can marvel at the sight before her, she sees a tanned hand grasp the ring inside of the box and take it out of its holding case.

Jessie turns to Ash's direction and finds him with one knee on the ground. Holding the ring with his index finger and thumb, he candidly speaks to Jessie, opening with the words "Jessica? The inscription on this ring says 'To Jessica: My One True Love.' That not just a saying. That's not just something sweet I came up with on the fly, and it's not something that I take for granted, ever. I carry that with me every single day in everything that I do."

Ash continues to look his girlfriend square in the eyes, saying "I love you, Jessica. It's…they are three simple words, but they say so much, yet they can never say enough. But, in you, Jess, I'm not looking for three words. I'm only looking for one word for my question that I pose to you." Jessie can feel it coming, like the tears streaming down her face, as it is now crystal clear that Ash has not only planned this entire scenario before her, but is planning to ask _the_ question that girls and women dream about being asked. She couldn't believe it! She just could not believe how fortunate she is to have it all come together in this elaborate plan, and her childhood dream to be married to the man of her dreams is about to become the ultimate antithesis of a dream.

"Jessica Kimberly Constance Palmer," Ash slowly but surely questions "Will you do me the honor of being my wife?" Afterwards, Ash softly exhales. 'God, I hope and pray she says yes. Please say yes,' he thinks.

Jessie is absolutely inconsolable, but she knows that Ash has placed the ball in her court. "Ash," Jessie tearfully begins her answer, "You're asking me to marry you?" Jessie just _had_ to make sure that she is not hallucinating.

Ash nods, and reiterates "Will you marry me, Jess?"

Then Jessie decides her own fate. While her face is still in tears, she gets up from her chair, and tackles the younger male in a big hug. While the two are in an embrace, Jessie goes for Ash's ear, and gives him an emotional whisper of 'Yes.'

Ash gasps in shock and begins to shake in pure excitement at what he just heard. The woman that at one point of his life was the bane of his existence and the thorn on the backside of he and his many traveling companions over the years said yes to him? The woman that saved him from potential disaster while dealing with the controversial Avenue Five group told him yes? The woman that became his good friend afterwards and eventually evolved to become his girlfriend just said yes to him? It is enough for Ash Ketchum to cry in absolute elation and return the hug.

"Oh, Jessica," Ash tearfully speaks, but before he continues, he turns to his parents and guests, telling them "She said yes," to which a thunderous applause erupts from not just Ash's table, but the numerous other restaurant goers. While most members of the table shed their own tears of happiness and say a few words of congratulations, there is quite a pleasant surprise in Ash's father Giovanni, who despite the fact that he attempted to compose himself, is clearly emotional knowing that his son is now engaged to quite a woman.

During the applause by his party, Ash takes the ring inside out of his right hand and places the ring on Jessie's finger. The ring easily glided through the finger of the much older fiancée. Ash and Jessie both smile knowing that Ash picked a winner in his ring. He comments "Look! A perfect fit!" while they get up and show the members of their party the engagement ring.

As the husband and wife to be show Delia the ring before anyone else, she comments like only a mother could "Oh, Ash! I just have to get a picture of this! Hang on," Delia tells the couple, and she then proceeds to look inside of her purse and search for her camera that she meant to bring for Ash's planned proposal.

Uncharacteristically, Delia interjects a light swear word in the form of "Crap!" before she excuses herself, and explains to Ash "I remember now. I left my camera in the car because there wasn't enough room for it inside of my purse. Ash, could you be a dear and get it for me, please?"

Not ever being one to turn down a request from his mother, Ash whispers a few words to his new fiancée, and tells his mother "Okay. No problem. It shouldn't take longer than a minute." Ash gets up from his seat, and tells everyone "I'll be right back, everyone," and heads for the exit door.

Pushing the door open and heading towards the other side of the building, Ash can no longer contain his excitement. Ash pumps his fists in the air and jumps up in absolute joy. This day has to rank among the best in the 22 year life of one Ashton Trenton Ketchum for several reasons.

"Everything's looking up!" Ash comments with great elation. "First Dawn wins the Grand Festival, and…Jessie said yes!" Ash then takes a moment to consider everything that has occurred and says out loud "I'm getting married to the girl of my dreams."

Remembering that he came outside for a reason, Ash walks over to his mother's car with the intention of getting her camera so that she can take pictures of the husband and wife to be. Walking closer and closer to the vehicle, Ash can clearly see the camera on the front passenger's seat. "All right," Ash smiles as he reaches for the keys to the car inside of his pocket. As he gets them out of his pocket and places the key into the hole, he hears off in the distance some footsteps that are running frantically and are getting louder with each step made. Paying no mind to this frantic footwork, Ash proceeds to turn the key to open the lock of the door, but all of a sudden, for Ash Ketchum, everything goes black.

* * *

The frantic footsteps that seemed to increase in frequency belonged to the running May Maple, who is wearing all of her garb to prevent anyone from knowing that she is participating in this hit. May followed up on her promise to herself to exact her revenge upon Ash Ketchum by using her baseball bat. While Ash placed the key into the door hole, May took the bat, and with a giant swing of the slugging device, hit Ash square into the back of his cranium, just above his neck.

Knowing that the shot or shots that she took at Ash had to be quick and effective, May did not botch in her mission. The first swing that she took at Ash was enough to drop the trainer to his knees and cause a small amount of blood to flow from the back of his head. Ash lay on the ground with his face facing the shining sun in the sky appearing as if he is spending the day sunbathing in a suit.

His visage and all of his features give off a peaceful vibe to the audience of one, but May cannot take her chances and in turn, blow her cover. Naturally unsure of the condition of Ash Ketchum and not willing to check on him, May decides to just take the bat in her hands and make one final swing. This time, she again aims for the head; the only difference being that she hits Ash's face, presumably shattering his facial features, before she runs from the scene back into the direction of the limo, not caring about the fate of Ash Ketchum.

May runs the entire time she departs the restaurant up until the point where she sees the limo exactly where she left it less than one hour ago. Over the course of her run away from the scene of the crime, she removes her ski mask and her gloves and keeps the bat in her left hands. Due to her excellent cardiovascular conditioning, she does not tire out at all even though the run from the restaurant to the limo took place over a time span of about 12 minutes.

When May makes it to the limo, she sees that Gordon is also going to the limo; the difference being that Gordon is walking to the stretch car and May is slowing down her run to a quick jog. May notices that Gordon is carrying a lot of plastic bags in his hand, and when she meets up with the chauffer at the car, she says "Hey, Gordon. I got my business taken care of, so we can head back whenever. What's in the bags?"

Gordon raises the bags slightly while looking towards May, saying "Some snacks for the road." It is here that Gordon for the first time notices the baseball bat in May's hand. Out of habit, Gordon wonders out loud "What's with the bat?"

Having to think up a good lie to tell Gordon, May quickly tells the chauffer, "Once I finished my business, I thought that I'd do some batting practice, you know? I've really been getting into the game, and will often play some pick up games."

Not entirely convinced, but not committed to pushing the issue, Gordon just nods, and gets into the driver's side of the car. He tells May before she goes into the passenger's side, "I got a call from Mistress Kelly. Unfortunately, due to some family emergency involving her mother Sonya, she had to head back home to Lilycove ASAP. She is using transportation from…Master Roderick."

May turns her glaze to Gordon and asks him "Drew is taking Kelly back home?" to which Gordon nods.

"Okay," May says, not concerned whatsoever with the closeness of her boyfriend and mistress. "Hey, Gordon, when we get back, I don't want anyone to suspect that we traveled together, so if you could…"

Seemingly reading May's thoughts, Gordon finishes May's sentence saying "Drop you off at a spot not too far from your home, right?" to which May gives Gordon a thumbs up as they make the long drive back to Petalburg City. May is calm, knowing what she just did to Ash Ketchum. She didn't check long enough to know if he was dead or not, but if her swing to his skull and face didn't do the needed damage, than nothing would. May smiles at the thought, believing in her very warped, stressed and twisted mind that she has done absolutely nothing wrong.

'Well,' she concludes to herself, 'His words will never hurt anyone again, and that's a promise.'

* * *

"It's been almost five minutes," Jessie whines out loud as Ash's party guests start to become a bit impatient with regards to the absence of the trainer. "He should have been back here by now! I'm gonna go check. He might just be out there checking some league results. Be right back, Ms. Ketchum."

"Jessie," Delia smiles, "There's no need for formalities. You're gonna be marrying my son. You can call me 'Delia' or…mom."

'Mom,' Jessie silently ponders. "Okay," she goofily responds "mom," and then leaves the restaurant. Combing the somewhat small parking lot looking for Delia's car, Jessie doesn't seem to find it, until she notices a very large SUV parked in front of the car. Turning the corner around to Delia's car, Jessie looks down at the pavement and gives off a piercingly loud scream.

Jessie saw the absolute last thing that she would have expected to see on this most joyous of occasions. Her fiancée is lying on the pavement, seemingly unconscious, and he is not moving at all. The most disturbing sight of them all is that near Ash's head, there is quite a large puddle of blood.

Knowing to act quickly, Jessie runs back into the restaurant, crying like a banshee, demanding anyone that will listen to "Call 9-1-1! Call 9-1-1! He's hurt! He's hurt bad! Someone help him! He's outside in the parking lot near Delia's car!" and then Jessie falls to the ground in a heap and heavily cries. Hearing the last part of Jessie's yelling, James, Brock, Gary and Professor Oak leave the restaurant to check exactly where Jessie stated was the location of the individual in question.

Delia, Tracey and Giovanni go over to Jessie and ask that she calm down. After much goading from Delia where she asks Jessie what's going on, Jessie finally regains control of herself only to tell Delia "I think he might be dead. Someone mugged him and he's out there in the parking lot…bloodied," and Jessie can no longer contain herself, as she cries once more in Delia's arms. Determined to get to the bottom of Jessie's words, Delia gently lets go of Jessie and heads for the door.

Too emotional to tell Delia that it would be best for her not to see her son in the condition that he is in, Jessie can only watch as Delia runs towards her car.

Delia with all thoughts centered on getting to her son, runs like the blowing wind, but is stopped by a much shaken Gary Oak, who tells her "Just trust me, Delia. You don't want to see him. He's in very bad shape, but granddad and Brock are giving him CPR and we've called an ambulance."

Delia shakes herself from Gary's grasp, saying "No! Let me go, Gary! I need to see my son," and she runs to her car.

Gary tries in vain to convince Delia to not go to her car, screaming "Delia, no!" but Delia turns the corner, and like Jessie before her, she screams mightily at the sight of her prone son. The thoughts of seeing Ash in the shape that he is currently in make Gary sick to his stomach, and he throws up in a nearby bush and sits by the sidewalk of the restaurant.

After a minute, the emotion becomes far too much for Gary to handle, and he openly weeps knowing that his very good friend is in very dire straights. "Please be okay, Ash," Gary laments. "Fuck! You just got engaged, man! You're gonna start your own family. You have everything to look forward to. Don't die on us. Don't die on Jess! Please!"

* * *

While Zoey watches a soap opera on the television as she is convinced that there is absolutely nothing on the television to watch, Dawn returns to her bedroom but does not sit down. Zoey sees Dawn who is standing in between the bed and the doorway, and asks her girlfriend "So how did it go?"

Dawn says nothing to Zoey. Instead, she walks over to the bed and sits next to Zoey pulling her close in a hug. Confused by these actions, Zoey again questions her belle saying "Dawn? You heard me, right? Did everything go okay?"

Dawn pulls Zoey in for a quick kiss, telling her "For two nights," she pauses to interlock her hands around Zoey's waist, "We are banned from sleeping in the same bed."

Showing her frustration for the punishment, Zoey exclaims "Damn it!"

As Dawn explains, "Jo-Jo said that whether we learned our lesson or not, we needed to be punished to let us know that breaking the rules won't be tolerated. So…after some debate between your parents, they decided that one of us would sleep in a guest bedroom for tonight and Friday that would have gone to a member of the family reunion." Dawn then moves her hands up to the back of Zoey's head and pulls her close for a mouth to mouth kiss. "That's why I want to spend as much time as I can with you before our temporary split."

Zoey kisses back at Dawn and the two then engage in a make out session, rolling through much of the area of the large bed. After several minutes of back to back kissing and emotion between the partners, their fun ends when Jo-Jo calls upstairs, saying "Zoey! Dawn! Come downstairs! We have guests!"

Disappointed, the two girls let go of each other, get out of the bed, brush each other off, and head downstairs together.

The first place that Zoey checks in the house for her parents is the den, and indeed, Jo-Jo, Adman, and K.C. are all in the den. For Dawn, there are two unfamiliar faces in the den that belong to two much older people; one being a man and the other being a woman. Zoey, however, immediately recognizes the faces, and exclaims "Grandpa! Grandma!" as she runs to both of them to give them a hug.

Zoey's grandparents exclaim "Domenica!" in response to their granddaughter's arrival. Dawn chuckles for a moment, remembering that Zoey detests any form of her middle name. But looking at Zoey, it seems as if she is not fazed by her grandparent's form of unofficial nomenclature.

"Dawn?" Zoey questions her girlfriend, bringing her attention back to Zoey's words "Meet my father's parents and my grandparents Alexander and Eunice Neale. Grandma and grandpa, this is my girlfriend, Shannon Berlitz, but everyone calls her Dawn."

Dawn to say very little is shocked out of her shoes when Zoey introduces her to her grandparents as her girlfriend. Adman, Jo-Jo and K.C. do not share this same sentiment, however, as their attention is turned to the elders in the room.

"Uhh, Zoey?" Dawn questions, "Your grandparents know that you're gay?"

Zoey doesn't answer, rather the Neale patriarch tells Dawn "Yes. It was…a shock to my son and my daughter-in-law, but the most important part of their relationship with Domenica is the love they share. So whether Domenica wants to be with a boy or a girl is irrelevant. She's still my feisty, spunky granddaughter."

Embarrassed, Zoey softly exclaims "Granddad!" but then gives Alex a hug. Zoey then turns to Dawn and says "Come over here and have a seat, Dawn! I'm sure there's a lot that you'd like to talk about with part of my extended family."

Dawn is confident that with this initial meeting with Zoey's paternal grandparents, she will earn the respect and the love from them that they naturally give to Zoey. Feeling like she is a part of the family already, Dawn decides to crack a joke, saying "Okay…Domenica," to which everyone in the room laughs heartily with the sole exception of the butt of the joke Zoey, who rolls her eyes and takes a seat next to Dawn.

While the couple is seated together, Zoey leans over to Dawn's ear and says two simple words to her girlfriend: "Use sparingly," which Dawn can only assume is in reference to Zoey's middle name.

"So Dawn," Eunice says as a means of breaking whatever ice was left between Dawn and the family, "Tell us a little bit about you."

* * *

After an hour of driving towards Lilycove City, Drew, Kelly and the surprise car guest Max don't say much. The mood of the trip to Lilycove is brought down due to the purpose of the drive, and Kelly and Max who are both sitting in the back are sleeping in the car. While looking at the road ahead, Drew passes a person walking down the road that he is traveling. Instantly recognizing the face, he quickly slows the car down to a stop and invites the person walking along the side of the road to come inside of his car. Max wakes up due to the sudden stop, but Kelly remains asleep.

The walking individual, who is an older woman likewise recognizes the vehicle, and runs the rest of the way to the front passenger's seat. Opening it, Drew happily greets her saying "Hey Solidad!" to which Kelly jumps up out of her seat in total shock and surprise.

'What the fuck?' Kelly questions to herself upon hearing that name. 'No. No, damn it! No! No! Not her!' When Kelly looks at the front seat, she sees the one and only Solidad O'Ryan sit in the seat.

She greets Drew, saying "Hey Drew," and then looks around the vehicle. She notices a familiar male in Max, who says hello to her and then she adjusts her vision to the person sitting next to Max. Turning, she sees only a small purple tuft of hair below her plane of sight. Looking down she sees her, and can no longer contain her happiness. "Kelly!" she loudly exclaims as she gives the businesswoman a squeezing hug and tells her "Oh my God! It's _so_ nice to see you again, girl! How've you been?"

'Goddamn it,' Kelly thinks as Solidad continues the vice like grip around her chest. Not understanding what he is seeing, but noticing that Kelly is quite uncomfortable in this position, Max gives off a sage smile, while Drew sweatdrops.

"So, Solidad," Drew comments in an effort to regain control of the action in the car, "Where are you headed to?"

Solidad lets go of Kelly for a moment before telling Drew "My next contest in Lilycove City," and this causes Kelly to loudly gasp.

"Well," Drew says, not believing the coincidence, "That's where _we're_ headed. Kelly doesn't have her limo, so she's traveling with us."

Drew continues for a moment, but Kelly cannot believe her misfortune. Sighing, she thinks 'Why did she have to come back into my life? Another monkey wrench thrown into my already fucked up life. Maybe God is punishing me.'

As Solidad gets buckled up and Drew puts the car back in drive, Kelly sees Solidad give her a flirtatious wink and mouth the words 'Hey cutie,' before she turns her head back to the road.

Before Kelly decides to go back to sleep, she thinks 'Well, if this is God's way of punishing me, he _must_ have a jaded sense of humor. This is _seriously_ fucked up.'

* * *

A/N: Okay, you may now breathe again. Ha-ha.

That's the end of season one, and it leaves you the reader with more questions than answers. Will Ash Ketchum be alright? What does Kenny have planned to get back at Dawn? Will the rest of Adman's family and members of the Baker family be as accepting of Zoey's relationship with Dawn? Just how do Rocky and Corey plan on breaking up Zoey and Dawn via the family reunion? Is there a bug going around because Sonya Mordetsky and Misty are both sick. Will May feel any remorse for her assault on Ash Ketchum? And why is Kelly so reluctant to travel with Solidad?

This series will likely return on February of 2008. So until then, stay tuned, leave your constructive reviews and look out for more news on 'A Confession Gone Awry.'


	14. Vacation: I'm A Believer

A Confession Gone Awry (Season Two Premiere)

So to sum up all the events of chapter 13, May steals Kelly's limousine and takes it along with its driver and Kelly's chauffer Gordon to Pallet Town to perform the hit on Ash Ketchum. The reason for the planned hit was because May watched television to see the speech from Raoul Contesta which broke down the reasoning behind making the switch to make Dawn Berlitz the new Grand Festival champion.

Speaking of which, Zoey and Dawn found out from Zoey's parents that the Grand Festival decision was reversed. When Dawn got a call from their offices, she left the room and took it, allowing Zoey and her parents to talk about the family reunion (which at this point, Zoey has not told Dawn about) and the moment that Zoey and Dawn had in the shower, which Zoey tearfully regrets ever happening.

Later, Dawn takes a moment to reflect on the fact that she is the legitimate Grand Festival champion, but she gets the wind taken from underneath her sails when her mother Johanna reminds her that her ex-boyfriend Kenny gets out of jail in a few hours. The news is enough to cause Dawn to fear for her life and she wails at the mere thought of how Kenny would exact his revenge on her. After a talk with Zoey's folks (see 'What's Done is Done') Dawn and Zoey are banned from sleeping in the same bed for two nights. Dawn then meets the first of Adman's family in his parents.

Kenny is later escorted out of jail. He is not necessarily a free man as of yet, but according to the agreement of the courts, he must undergo rehab, attend regular meetings with a parole officer, pass random drug tests, and live in a halfway house for three months. Kenny doesn't plan on following orders, though, as he is calling on the services of a group called Avenue Five.

Max is able to corner Kelly and let her know that he knows of her affair with May, but gets into a bind, as Kelly finds out that Max is secretly dating Misty Waterflower. To make sure that that relationship remains secret, Max agrees to keep Kelly and May's relationship quiet, although now Kelly must contend with a very curious Max Maple, who along with Drew is tagging along with Kelly to see Kelly's mother Sonya, who is dealing with an unspecified illness.

While at a group dinner date with friends and family, Ash and Jessie finish their meal with a large dessert brought to their table. In actuality, the dessert is Jessie's old partner in crime Meowth, who presented Jessie with a box that has a ring inside. Ash planned the entire date to propose to Jessie, who said 'yes'. When Ash goes to his mom's car, he has a chance to reflect on everything and knows that everything in his life is looking up, among many things, he's getting married and that Dawn is now the Grand Festival champion…until May makes the hit.

May uses her baseball bat to strike Ash in the back of his head, and once more hits him in the face while he is laying flat on the ground. After the hit, she leaves and heads back to the limo. Jessie sees him and is inconsolable. The guys help to resuscitate him as an ambulance arrives onto the scene.

And as Kelly, Drew and Max travel to Kelly's hometown of Lilycove City, they come across Solidad, and for some reason, this makes Kelly _really_ uncomfortable.

NOTE: This is the arc that contains the family reunion. In order to understand parts of that, I recommend that you read a short two part first person narrative called _Family Trees_, which breaks down the respective family trees of both sides of Zoey's family; the Neale's and the Baker's.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 14- Vacation Part 7: I'm a Believer)

* * *

"All right," a female voice affirms in the summer night sky in the absence of the street lights that would often brighten the evening, "We're almost here, guys!"

"Great," another girl concurs. "I can't wait for Tyson to see this beauty," and then she holds the trophy high up in the air signifying her as the girl's volleyball champion in her age grouping of 12-14. The trophy is about one and a half feet tall and it portrays a unisex athlete in a striking stance about to hit a volleyball beyond the other end of a net.

"It really is a nice trophy," a third voice echoes. "You certainly do know how to rack them up, Mike. I mean, how many does this make now? Two hundred? Two-fifty?"

"More like three hundred and sixty…three," the finely tuned athlete recollects. "I'm pretty sure that's how many trophies I now have, Corey."

"Wow," Corey remarks, "Smarts and athleticism all rolled into one." Turning to where he is sure his older sister is walking, Corey informs her, "I guess you know what this means, Rocky. No guy is gonna want a thing to do with our little Michelle." Rocky can only chuckle in response, as she has shared that same sentiment for quite a while. "An intelligent girl that can also kick your ass if you get out of line? I don't know how many guys are willing to take that bait."

A frustrated Mikey has heard enough of her siblings both taking shots at her, and fires back, saying "Hey, Corey? Rocky? How about both of you have nice hot cups of shut the hell up, okay? I don't worry about your love lives, so don't worry about mine, capiche?"

In an attempt to regain order in their three-way conversation, Rocky gives Mikey a strong pat on her right shoulder, explaining "Cool down, sis. Corey and I are just messing with you, you know? You'll find that right guy…" and pausing her speech for a bit to consider their family's situation, Rocky addendums the comment with, "_or girl_ for you someday, and when you do, you'll be happy knowing that you'll have the support of mom, dad, Zoey, K.C., Corey and myself. We know that no matter what, who you choose to love will be your business, and neither of us will interfere in _your_ business. Okay?"

Fortunate that it is dark and that Rocky cannot see Mikey shake her head in complete dismay at her older sister's outright lie to her face, Mikey begins to slowly but surely lose more respect for her older sister and younger brother's alliance to break up Zoey and Dawn. No matter what, Mikey will love her siblings, but they are making it very difficult to be respected as they secretly plot the demise of a loving couple for whatever reasons involved.

Without question, she knew of the feelings that her twin brother had for Dawn, but Rocky's reasoning behind wanting the two to end up in Splitsville remains mostly unknown. Innuendos about Dawn's past are all she has thrown out as reasoning behind her disdain for Zoey's girlfriend, but Mikey thought that both of them would be a lot more mature about this entire situation then they are being.

'I can't believe,' Mikey ponders, 'that they would just lie to my face about something like this. Oh yeah,' she sarcastically thinks, 'they won't interfere in my relationships, but apparently, Zoey is fair game. How goddamn hypocritical can you get?' Few other words are shared between the three as they continue on their way.

It doesn't take that long for Rocky, Corey and Mikey Neale to make it back to the summer house after getting text messages from their brother and their parents telling them that much of Adman's family has already arrived onto the property grounds for the upcoming festivities. Family reunions between the Neale family and the Baker family are a fun, and friendly atmosphere that brings together people of different faiths, nationalities and various other situations to celebrate for the summer.

The three are now approaching the door to the house to enter in and partake in some light fare before they go to bed for the evening. Using her key with her younger siblings right behind her, Rocky opens the door to the house to find that there is much commotion occurring in just about every room from the large kitchen to the game and entertainment rooms, lower and upper dens along with the family room.

Many of the Neale's family members lined the house and looking around several of the rooms in an attempt to find her parents, Rocky estimated that about 100 members of her dad's family had already arrived onto the property, not counting the ones that would come later. Anyone that is not used to the fervent activity on an annual basis would be overwhelmed, but not the Neale siblings, as Rocky finally comes across her mother, who is entertaining some of Adman's relatives on the backyard porch which gives a great view of the boardwalk and activities that occur 24 hours a day throughout the Seafoam islands.

"Mom," Rocky begins, "We're here. Hi, Aunt Anita. It seems like every time I see you, the baby is getting more eager to get out of your belly. What is it, now? Five months?"

"It'll be month number five next week, Rebecca," Anita replies back to her niece using her given name. "Do you have two new names for us?"

"Actually, I do." Rocky then gives Anita the names Connor Blake and Wendy Priscilla. Anita thanks her afterwards, and says that the choices are unique and creative.

As Jo-Jo temporarily turns away from her conversation with Adman's sister and Rocky's Aunt Anita, she says hi to Rocky and her other kids, telling them to just have fun for the rest of the night with their relatives and she'll go over the plans for the main festivities on Saturday.

"Okay, mom," Rocky smiles back to Jo-Jo, as she turns around to see that her younger siblings have already gone to do whatever it is they want to do with the remaining Thursday evening. Rocky didn't think much about it, as she admittedly had another issue to tend to in finding Dawn Berlitz.

* * *

"So that's when my mom says to me 'It's when you say _no need to worry_ that I worry the most,'" to which her peers in attendance give off a resounding response of laughter. For the past several hours since Dawn first met Zoey's grandparents and her numerous Aunts, Uncles and cousins, Dawn has been nothing short of the life of the party, immediately connecting with just about every of age member of the Neale family in attendance.

Even though she is meeting most of these people for the first time, with their welcoming attitudes and hospitality, she feels like she has met up with childhood friends from days gone by. Time seemed to fly by while all of the cousins in their mid to late teens congregated inside the den of the summer house.

Long after the punch line to the joke Dawn made has been told, the Ty twins can't help but continue to laugh. "Oh! Oh, Dawn," Tyler remarks, "That _so_ reminds me of our mom, right, Tyson?"

"Oh, no doubt," adds Tyler's twin brother. "It kind of reminds me of a few family reunions ago when we had the sack race, remember? The finals came down to me and Mikey, and right before Uncle Roger is about to blow the whistle to start the race, my mom tells me to be careful. I tell her 'yes ma'am,' while rolling my eyes wanting to tell her that it's just a sack race for Pete's sake, but what I didn't notice is that the race had already begun, and that Mikey had gotten a head start. It was so big that there was just no way that I could catch up, and she won."

"Funny, Tyson," a voice from behind him speaks, "I seem to remember that sack race much differently than you do."

Tyson turns around to find his younger cousin Mikey holding the volleyball trophy that she won earlier that day. Tyson and Tyler both get up and give Mikey a hug wanting to know how she's doing, to which Mikey says "I'm fine. Hey Tyson. Take a gander at this if you think that the sack race from three years back was just a fluke." Mikey holds up the volleyball trophy, which warrants whistles of approval from Zoey and Tyler, but a roll of the eyes from Tyson.

"What?" Mikey innocently asks.

"Where did you steal that?" Tyson sarcastically inquires.

"Steal it? Ha! Don't make me laugh! There's plenty more where this baby came from."

"Maybe," Tyson tells Mikey eye to eye, "but until you win the Baker-Neale family reunion volleyball championship, that little thing you call is trophy is nothing more than a mere toy."

"Don't sing it, bring it, Tyson!"

"All right. All right," Zoey raises her voice and stands in a moderator's position in an effort to stop her sister and cousin from tearing each other's heads off. "Settle down, you two. The best athlete will win on Saturday," but showing that she has a clear and obvious bias, she adds, with a smile, "and it will be Mikey."

The crowd around them laughs up yet another storm, while a frustrated Tyson says, "Aw! You're just saying that 'cause she's your sister."

"Maybe," Zoey admits as she pulls Dawn up from the couch they've been sitting on for the past four hours, "but Mikey has won hundreds of trophies over the years, so if that one is a fluke, than the other three hundred some that she has home also have to be flukes. Come on, Dawn. Let's get away from these…crowds for a little bit."

"Private time with your new girlfriend, eh Zoey?" asks Gaby.

"That's right. You got a problem with that?"

"No ma'am. See you two later," Gaby bids as both Zoey and Dawn make their way up to the master bedroom. After Dawn met up with Zoey's grandparents earlier, she thought that seeing as how well that meeting went, it would be best to just come clean about their relationship with everyone, and it turns out that her prediction was on the spot, as just about everyone that they told either heard about or saw the Grand Festival and concluded that that was the reason why Dawn was here, or they already knew about Zoey being gay. The reason why it's not everyone is because of the differences that Zoey and her cousin Kristen still harbor for each other. Although Kristen made it clear that she's not homophobic, she doesn't necessarily condone the behavior.

The mostly friendly atmosphere that the Neale family provided made Dawn forget about all of the troubles in their lives as the pair made their way up to the bedrooms. While the entire house is happy to be together for the celebration, one person in particular has just had the wind taken out of her sails. Rocky, who watched her sister and girlfriend from the other end of the room heard their entire conversation and was very disappointed to see the two of them being so open with the rest of the family. To say the least, it threw quite a monkey wrench into her plans, as she had hoped that either Dawn or her sister would be too insecure to reveal the truth about their relationship, but it turns out that this was not the case.

'I thought I could draw the ire of some of my cousins by making them think that you didn't trust them with your lesbianism, Zoey,' Rocky thinks, 'but it seems like you and that _bitch_ are just gonna throw caution to the wind with dad's family.' Thinking about their present situation even more, she gives off a smile just like the one the Grinch gave off right before his quest to steal Christmas. 'Well, you might have dodged a bullet this time, girls, but you won't be as fortunate when mom's side of the family comes. _That's_ when the real fun will begin.'

"Hey Rocky."

Rocky turns around and aggressively asks the person what they want without looking to see who it is. When she is completely turned around, she sees that it is her brother Corey. After apologizing, Corey gives Rocky a glass of punch, which she immediately accepts. Corey than silently instructs his sister to follow him to the bathroom; the only place he felt that they could talk in privacy.

Once the door to the first floor bathroom is closed, Corey tells Rocky, "There might be a bit of a dent in our plans, Rock. It seems that Zoey and Dawn have already told most of the family that they're a couple. So how else can we break them up? This _is_ your plan, after all."

Rocky chuckles for a moment before patting Corey on the top of his head and saying, "Patience, youngling. First of all, Dawn and Zoey haven't told all of the family that they're a couple. They've only told _half_ of the family. Remember that the other half hasn't come to the house yet, and them being as accepting as dad's side is more than a bit of a stretch, because…"

"Say no more," Corey interrupts, realizing that the Baker's have not yet arrived. "I doubt they'll be able to stand the heat of mom's side of the family." Trying to hold together his excitement, he compliments his sister's planning by saying, "Rocky Neale, you are a genius!"

After that comment, Rocky, in a very camp style, flings the hair on her side to behind her back, and tells her brother "Well, I _do_ have my moments. Now let's go back out there and party hearty, 'eh?"

Corey opens the door to the bathroom and tells Rocky "After you," to which Rocky exits the restroom with Corey closely in tow. What the kin in cahoots does not know is that as they make their exit out of the bathroom, Mikey from another part of the room is watching them, and is rightfully assuming that they are plotting her favorite couple's demise. Deeply sighing, she attracts the attention of her brother K.C. who asks what's wrong.

Not wanting to open up an even bigger kettle of fish, Mikey decides against telling K.C. about Corey and Rocky's plan, and instead opens up to him about another thing that has troubled her since the day began.

* * *

Walking to the door of Zoey's bedroom, Dawn and Zoey look to both sides and find that no one is nearby.

Feeling a great sense of accomplishment, Dawn tells her girlfriend "We're clear," as she leans into Zoey and gives her a deep, long and somewhat wet kiss on the lips.

Zoey reacts to the action by hugging Dawn's lower back and slowly pulling back from the kiss, adding to Dawn's quip, "And we're ready for takeoff," as she gives Dawn a strong kiss of her own.

After about a minute of back and forth tonsil hockey, Dawn releases her kiss on Zoey and admits "No offense, but I'm glad that we were able to get away from your family, even if it is for a little while. I never mind kissing you, but…when I'm around your folks, I have to tighten my hold on the reins so that I don't go too overboard in my affection."

"Hey, none taken," Zoey agrees. "And I also agree with you. What we do should be between us, and nobody else. That's what makes it so special. And…the fact that we can't spend the night together in bed makes me cherish this alone time that much more. I know eventually everyone downstairs will be asking about us and where we are."

"Maybe," Dawn responds, "but with the exception of your cousin Kristen, I'm pleasantly surprised at how supportive everyone in the family has been, you know? I mean, Tyler and Tyson are a riot, and I feel like I can talk to Chloe, Gaby and Dru about anything like they were my _own_ cousins." Upon hearing the first statement, Zoey cringes for a bit, realizing that Dawn has not met everyone in her family that there is to meet.

Not wanting to push any more issues, especially at the high that Dawn is at currently, Zoey simply agrees with Dawn and gives her a lighter kiss than the ones they've had in just the past three minutes.

In the midst of their activity, the girlfriends do not notice that Mikey has climbed up the steps and has seen their final kiss. Mikey nervously says hello to the tandem, which causes the two of them to turn from their kiss to Mikey in a state of half shock.

"So, how are you two?" Mikey says in an effort to break the ice.

"We're fine," says the pair in unison.

"So you two are spending time alone that you won't get to spend together tonight, huh?"

"Mike, how did you know that?" Zoey asks in bewilderment.

"After a talk that I had with…I should just be honest with you both," Mikey drones. "When I found out that you two were sleeping together, it was around the time that I also knew about your escapade in the shower. I put two and two together, and that's why I joked about you two having some quality time in your bed. I thought you were…you know."

"Yeah," Zoey says understanding every word so far.

"After…I left your room," Mikey continues, "I thought about it and let it sink in that you both might be lying to me to save face."

"But we weren't," Dawn interrupts to make her point clear. "Neither of us have had sex yet, and even though it's on our minds, we know better now, but…are you trying to say—are you saying that _you're_ the one who ratted us out, Mikey?"

Mikey says nothing, instead opting to just nod her head. "I—I just felt that I was doing the right thing. Both of you are smart, mature young women, but there's the key word; both of you are quite young. I just wanted to make sure that neither of you were jumping the gun on this one. Zoey, you know what mom and dad have told us over the years."

"I screwed up, Mikey!" Zoey nearly screams to her sister. "Is that what you wanted to hear from me, because that's exactly what happened Tuesday night! I made a mistake, and now we're paying for it, and that's the way it should be. I don't care that you ratted us out. Hell, maybe we needed it, but that'll never happen again. I promise. You shouldn't have to worry about us, Mike, because Dawn and I can take care of ourselves." Zoey than calms herself for a moment and addresses Mikey, saying, "But—come here. Come here, Mike."

Mikey looks at Zoey, who looks like she's about to give someone a hug. Mikey says to herself that everything appears to be fine, and then walks to the welcoming arms of her older sister as she is pulled into a big embrace. After a few seconds, Dawn joins in, turning this sisterly hug into a group hug. While in the hug, Zoey thanks Mikey and tells her that she appreciates the concern, but while Mikey is embracing both Zoey and Dawn, she signals to Dawn with her fist facing down just above Mikey's head. Dawn flashes her own fist, and Zoey speaks to Mikey once more.

"There's one more thing I gotta tell you, Mike," Zoey coos to her sister, but all of a sudden, she speaks the word 'Now!' out loud, which signals Dawn to join her girlfriend in giving Mikey a double noogie. Mikey tries to fight out of it, but Zoey continues her prodding by telling Mikey to 'Never let it happen again,' before both of them finally halt their assault on Mikey's scalp.

Zoey and Dawn laugh it up for a bit before Zoey says to Mikey, "Nah, I'm just kidding. Thanks again for your concern."

"We're cool?" Mikey asks the pair.

"Yeah," Dawn answers. "We're cool."

"Okay then," Mikey says, relieved that Zoey and Dawn are not mad at her for telling Jo-Jo and Adman about their affairs. "If I don't see you two anymore tonight, then good night to both of you, and dream about each other if you can't be next to each other."

"Don't worry, Mike," Zoey assures. "Besides, it's only for two days, and by Saturday night, we'll be back in each other's arms."

"Sweet," Mikey commends, as she heads back downstairs to join the rest of the party.

Dawn turns to Zoey and has to tell her "You know I would have been willing to bet the farm that it was K.C. who told your parents about us. But she did it, even when she supports us as much as she does. That takes some class. And you know something else? I'm not even mad that she did it, because she did it with such courage and…Mikey is really looking out for us, isn't she?"

Zoey gives Dawn a 'thumbs up,' and simply tells her "That's my sister. Now come on into my room. I need to check my e-mail, and you can check yours, too."

As Zoey opens the door to her room, Dawn says "Good deal," and walks behind her girlfriend to the laptop placed at the center of her work desk.

* * *

Reluctant to ride in the same vehicle as the brown-haired beauty, Kelly didn't really show her disdain towards knowing that Drew picked up Solidad about an hour or so ago. Instead, she along with Max and Solidad all went to sleep in Drew's car as he meandered through the winding roads that lead to Kelly's hometown. While resting, Kelly pondered more than just a few errors in Solidad's story about wanting to go to Lilycove city for a pokemon contest. The fact is that there is not a single contest scheduled for the next three weeks in Lilycove, so unless Solidad moves at a snail's pace to get from contest to contest, her story has more than a few holes.

"All right, everyone," Drew reverberates throughout the vehicle, "We're here. This is Lilycove General." Kelly doesn't have much time to think about Solidad's reasoning for being with her, as she has to tend to her ill mother. As Max rubs the sleep out of his eyes, he looks over to Kelly, who has already unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door to get out of the car as Drew has parked his Prius into the hospital parking garage. Kelly seems to be in quite a hurry in Max's eyes, and if her mother is really sick, then it does make more than just a bit of sense why Kelly would be in a hurry. Then again, Kelly did look quite uncomfortable around Solidad during their long car ride, so he figures that that might play a factor in her wanting to get out as quickly as she can.

Still determined to free himself despite the possibility of being blackmailed, Max unbuckles himself from the car in an attempt to follow Kelly closer than even her own shadow. While he is most certainly in a bind as he is unable to out Kelly and May to his family, friends and Drew due to Kelly learning about his secret relationship with Misty, that doesn't mean that he still can't gather information about Kelly's behavior to share with Misty, which is what he is doing as he sees Kelly run to the receptionist with a full stride. Behind Kelly and Max are both Drew and Solidad, who compared to their riding companions, are calmly making their way to the help desk, even though their hearts and minds are completely focused on Kelly's mom.

"You know, Drew," Solidad admits, "I can understand Kelly wanting to see her mom as soon as she can, but what's up with Max?"

Drew, who has had his suspicions about Max's behavior over the years answers, "Damned if I know, Solidad. I've suspected something odd about Max over the past couple of years, but I can't quite pinpoint it. Something's just off with him, like he has mist on the brain, or what have you."

While the two old friends talk about everything under the sun as if they were taking a spring stroll through the park, a determined Kelly makes her way to her final destination in the forms of the receptionist's desk. Once she makes it there, it is clear to the female in her forties tending to the desk that the person that ran up to her desk needs some assistance.

As Kelly stops at the help desk, she takes about half of a minute to catch her breath before the receptionist asks what she needs.

Not quite recovered from her windedness, Kelly is nevertheless able to explain to the receptionist "I need…to see…Sonya…Mordetsky. Please." Pulling out her ID and showing it to the woman, she further explains, "I'm Kelly Mordetsky. I'm her daughter."

Looking at the ID, the receptionist has seen enough to check on the name. Looking through a few pages on the hospital's system, she finds Kelly's mother, but there is somewhat of a catch.

"Okay, Kelly?" the receptionists begins to get the girl's attention, "It seems that your mother is in this database and was in Room 423—stay here, please," she interjects as Kelly tries to make her way towards the elevators. "Like I was saying, she _was_ in Room 423, however, she checked out not that long ago with a man about her age who said that he would take her home. I believe his name was…Micah Mordetsky. Are you related to him?"

Kelly takes in the information given to her like a sponge. Knowing that Kelly was quite a way's away, Sonya most likely thought of the other people that could help her out, so in Kelly's mind, what likely happened is that Sonya probably called Kelly's father and Sonya's estranged husband Micah to help her because at the time, he was closer to her than Kelly.

Thanking the receptionist, Kelly walks back to the waiting room where Drew, Solidad and Max are patiently biding their time. Looking to Kelly when she enters the room, they listen for whatever news Kelly has to give them.

"Okay," Kelly opens, "My father apparently checked my mother out of the hospital before we got here and he's taking her home. My house isn't that far from the hospital, so I can walk there, Drew. Thanks for taking me."

Drew gets up from his seat and says "No problem," to Kelly, giving her a hug and adding, "I'm just glad to hear that your mom is doing okay. I'm gonna head back to Petalburg and May so we can determine where we're gonna go next on our journey. Take care, now."

"Alright, Drew," Kelly answers. "You take care of yourself, too. You and May both." As he watches this scene happen from the sidelines, Max is once again flabbergasted at Kelly's acting, as she is really making Drew look like a fool with her innuendos and double entendres. Max sighs heavily as he too goes up to Kelly and says good-bye, but also tells her in her ear, "We're not done, Kelly. Drew _will_ know what you and May are doing, consequences and my relationship be damned."

Max turns away from Kelly and asks Drew if he is ready to go. After giving Solidad a hug, he tells Max that he's ready, and after Max bids Solidad farewell, Drew and Max head to the garage and Drew's car to head back to the Maple home leaving Kelly and Solidad in the waiting room.

Growing perturbed at her presence, Kelly inconspicuously asks Solidad, "Don't you have somewhere to go, Solie?"

Not answering Kelly, Solidad leans over and kisses Kelly on the lips while they are the only two people left in the waiting room.

Fighting her way out of the osculation, Kelly pushes Solidad way and aims to slap her for the kiss, but stops herself, and instead asks, "What the fuck, Solie?"

"I'm sorry," Solidad apologizes. "I—I couldn't hold it in for much longer while Drew and Max were here. You've helped me and several other girls out so much over the years, and you care very much about the people around you. I love that about you, Kelly. I love…"

Kelly walks directly in front of Solidad, so that there is very little in the form of space between the two. "Don't you dare say it, Solidad! I don't want to hear those words come out of your damn mouth ever again! You know that my heart belongs to May. You knew that eight years ago, and you know that now! I love her enough that I'm willing to put my love for her to the side so she doesn't have to be abandoned by her family because of her feelings for me."

Taking a step back, Kelly continues, "You see, Solie, May has always and will always have a leg up on you because the feelings that we share for each other are mutual. Between us, Solidad, there was absolutely nothing but sex, and that's all I've felt. We had a sexual relationship as you are a member of the Dyke Clubs. You share a special place in my heart because you _were_ my first, but…if I knew then what I know now, I would have never gotten involved with you. I hate to be cruel, but…I don't love you, Solidad, and we will never, ever,_ ever_ be a couple. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go home. I'll see you…whenever." Kelly pushes Solidad to her side and makes her way towards the hospital exit.

Turning around Kelly informs Solidad, "Oh, by the way, I know that there isn't a contest scheduled in this city for weeks, so that can't be the reason why you're here. So spill it; why are you here in Lilycove?"

Solidad gives Kelly and infectious smile and explains, "To see you. What else?"

Kelly, almost in the vein of a spoiled child, tells Solidad, "Well, I don't want to see you, so I suppose you don't need to be in Lilycove anymore. Bye," is the last word Kelly says to Solidad before she finally leaves the hospital to walk home.

Solidad laughs for a bit, before she declares, "I won't give up on you yet, Kelly. I'll find out what makes you crack, and get to the bottom of your anger, as well. May might have your heart, Kelly, but pretty soon, I'll have your mind and soul." Opening her purse, Solidad takes out her cellular phone, dials a few numbers and listens for a couple of rings.

The voice on the other line then speaks, "Hoenn Region Cab Company. How may I help you?"

* * *

Using the intercom system in the limousine, chauffer Gordon Colton calls the passenger in the back of the limo. "Excuse me, Miss Maple?"

After a couple of seconds, May uses her intercom and calls back to Gordon, asking him "Yeah, what's up?"

"We've just gone past the Petalburg City limits, and I'm wondering were you would like me to drop you off."

"You're saying we've just past the city limits, Gordon?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Several seconds pass before May tells Gordon to "Just drop me off at the next stoplight, and I should be alright. Thanks again for taking me to Pallet Town."

Gordon says that it's no problem, and twenty seconds later, the limo hits a stoplight. May quickly gathers her materials, including her baseball bat and her black clothing, and she exits the limo, leaving the stolen key to the car with Gordon before she makes the quick walk to home.

During the walk, May remains relatively calm in the face of her actions from about two hours ago. In her mind, the trainer (she refuses to use Ash's name even in her thoughts) got exactly what he deserved for sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Had well enough been left alone, she would have been a Grand Festival champion at last. It obviously meant a great deal to her, as she has worked toward the goal for nearly a decade.

"Well," May says out loud, "the trainer won't keep me from the things that I love anymore. My hard work will never be in vain again."

About half an hour passes before May makes it back home to the Petalburg City gym, where she sees that Drew's car is parked in the driveway, all by itself. Having heard from Kelly's chauffer Gordon that Drew is taking Kelly back home, May thought that it would take much longer for the transportation to occur, but it turns out that this isn't the case, as Drew has apparently returned from the trip to Lilycove.

Once May gets to the door of the house, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out the key to the house to go inside. Once May is inside, she yells to find out who is home and after a few seconds is greeted by Drew with a big hug and a kiss.

After a second, the mood turns serious as Drew wants to know "How are you feeling, May? We all heard about the Grand Festival, and…we're all very sorry."

May sadly smiles back at her boyfriend, assuring him "Don't worry. I've gotten over it. I might have…cried over it some and laughed at the irony, because the same person who suggested I come to Kanto to compete in the Grand Festival is the same person who in effect ended up costing me my title."

"Hey," Drew consoles, "It doesn't matter any. You'll be a Grand Festival winner one day. You have all the tools in the world to do it, and I know this because in my mind, you're already a Grand Festival champion. Screw what the judges say; screw what the final results from Contesta say, and screw what Ash Ketchum has to say. May, you_ are _the Grand Festival champion, and with all due respect to Dawn Berlitz, who is a superb coordinator, like I told you that day in the Orange Islands, you will always be my champion, May."

Drew then caresses the shoulders of May while looking at her square in the eyes, elaborating "I know that we've had our difficulties over the years. Every couple has their highlights and their lowlights, but we've been on quite a roller coaster ride since that day in the Orange Islands Grand Festival. I know I haven't been the best boyfriend because of…shallow crap, but I've grown up, May. _We've_ grown up. Our relationship feels like it has come full circle over the past several years, and you know that I know that our love for each other is something that I value a great deal, and I feel that we…I feel that we've hit a point where we can take our relationship to the next level."

Shock is not a word appropriate enough to describe May's feelings as Drew tells her that he is ready to truly become one with her and reach intimate peaks that you'd read about in romance novels or see on the silver screen. As she had understood it, Drew always seemed like the guy that was willing to wait for marriage. In fact, when May talked to Drew earlier in the year about this very subject, Drew explained to May that he does not want to rush into anything, and May was more than willing to go along with him.

Over the past six years, in some capacity or another, May has shared something with Kelly. Whether it is a love for all things pokemon, an intimate understanding of each other, or a bed, they have shared a great deal over the years. As a 'committed' couple, the subject of sex for May and Drew was sure to come up. May wished that she did not have to deal with it right here and right now.

"Uhh, Drew?" May questions, "This is…this is all so…sudden, don't you think?"

"You don't have to decide right away, honey," Drew corrects.

May is taken aback somewhat, because Kelly would more often that not be the one that would call May 'honey'.

"Besides, we really couldn't do it right now. Max is here, and we don't want to do that and risk him catching us in the act. And…even though your parents are out visiting your grandmother…I want it to be special for both of us without having to worry that we're gonna get caught. Do you understand what I'm saying? So, rake some time to think about it—I promise that I won't pressure you into making any hasty decisions, and whatever you want to do, let me know. For now, I'll wait in the other room."

As Drew goes into the hallway that leads into the bedrooms, May considers everything that Drew says, and decides that she's heard enough to make her decision.

"Drew?" she calls out, "Come back here, please."

* * *

While at his desk, Max quickly takes out his phone while he is certain that no one in the house can hear him, and he uses the speed dial option to call name number one on the list. Today has not been the best day for the young Maple sibling, and much of that can be blamed on him. If Max had been more careful of his property, he could've avoided being found out by Kelly and would not have in turn been threatened with blackmail should he decide to unveil the truth about Kelly and May. Had Max been more assertive earlier when armed with what he knew, he probably could have had Kelly and May confess to Drew long before getting caught in this web of deceit.

Waiting for the dial tone, Max takes a deep breath and considers all the events that have taken place over the past day or two, as the other end of the line is picked up, and the person greets 'Hello,' while in a place that seems to have quite a bit of outside commotion.

Recognizing the voice as Misty's, Max quickly says hello, but then explains to his girlfriend, "We've got…a bit of a roadblock."

Though Max obviously can't see Misty on the other end, Misty is wide eyed, thinking that Max's parents or someone with a great conflict of interest has found out about their partnership as she is still like a statue in an aisle of the supermarket.

"Roadblock?" Misty is just able to expel out of her mouth. "What do you mean, 'roadblock?'"

As Max explains, "Kelly knows about us being a couple. She used some…underhanded tactics to find out, and threatened to spill the beans to my mother." With his voice breaking, he continues, "I'm sorry, Misty, but I just couldn't take the risk of mom or dad knowing, and then…I want to still be with you, you know? I love you a lot and the thought of you not being around…"

"Say no more, Max," Misty assures. "It's fine. We don't need to push the issue with Kelly and May. Sometime in the near future, we can catch them in a lie, or we can warn Drew like I warned you about May."

Max explains to Misty, "Waiting for those two to make a mistake could in fact take a while. Though I'm not around May that often, I know—she informs me about her goings on, and I no idea whatsoever about her being bisexual. You'd think that being in a relationship over six years that some inkling of a hint would come out, no pun intended, but, I'll tell you what, May and that bitch both deserve Academy Awards for their performances over the years, because they have fooled_everyone_."

While still in the supermarket aisle, Misty takes time to think about what Max has just said, and has to agree with the logic. "You're right. It takes some type of skill to fib your way out of something as cruel as cheating. But what about the second thing I suggested? What if we hinted to Drew, or your parents that something is wrong like I did for you?"

"We really can't do that, Misty," Max regretfully states. "If we hint that something is wrong, then in all likelihood, Drew or my folks will want to dig deeper, or they'll want to know why we've kept the secret _if_ they find out. It's like a catch-22, and…"

Max stops speaking when he hears his sister say the words, _Drew, come back here, please._ Looking through the crack of his door, he can see Drew walking up to May, who gives her boyfriend a big hug. Sensing an opportunity to at least dig up some information, Max asks Misty on the other line to hold for about a minute or two.

Misty tells Max that it's no problem, and continues shopping for the final item on her list. Truth be told, she didn't really have a list and only came into the market to get one item she desperately needed. Everything else in her basket included items she bought to draw attention away from this one thing. As Misty grabbed the thin rectangular box, several hundred thoughts entered her mind including a heavenly voice asking "Misty? Are you still there?"

Taking the phone away from her mouth, Misty whistles in response to Max coming back on the line. Misty guesstimates that it took no more than three minutes for Max to do whatever he needed to do. Misty tells Max that she's still on the line, and Max informs Misty, "I just eavesdropped on Drew and May. They're apparently gonna meet tomorrow at the Petalburg Palace."

"The Petalburg Palace?" Misty interrupts. "That's the same place we went to on Tuesday to make love that night. Are you trying to say…"

"Yes," Max declares. "I'm pretty sure that tomorrow, May and Drew are gonna have their first time together. Drew told May, and I quote, 'Prepare for the ride of your life.' May is planning to meet Drew at six o'clock, and I think that that would be a good place for me to meet May before she goes inside and to confront her about her affairs."

"That sounds all well and good, Max," Misty admits, "But what makes you think she'll admit to _anything_? She's as stubborn as an ox, and admitting that she's doing this will go against her and Kelly's plan that they've had in place for the past six years to keep everything a secret."

"I know more than anyone else how stubborn May is," Max ponders, "but if I wasn't a good friend to Drew and a protective brother to May, I wouldn't even try doing this. I have to at least try and see what happens if I face May one on one. Her guilt will eventually have to take its toll on her psyche. And besides, I don't know what else to do. We can't wait this out and expect Drew to be kind and generous to us knowing that we kept this secret for so long. We have to act."

Misty listens to Max and moves to the checkout line, encouraging Max by telling him, "Good luck, Max." Looking at the box again as it makes its way to the scanner, she adds, "Once everything blows up, we're all gonna need it. I'll talk to you tomorrow, all right?"

"Good deal," Max responds. "Take care now."

"You too, sweetie," Misty closes as she kisses the receiver and closes the cell phone.

Once her seven or eight items have been rung up by the attendant at the register, he smiles back to her saying, "That'll be twenty-four dollars and eighty six cents, ma'am."

Meanwhile, Max is pacing back and forth in his room, trying to think of a way to combat May before she goes to the hotel with Drew tomorrow.

"I'm gonna need some solid, tangible evidence to stop these games once and for all," Max says, stating the obvious. "But what? What could I use to nail Kelly and May once and for all?" As Max continues to pace, he walks a bit further to the window of his door, and unexpectedly trips on something that he did not previously notice was on the floor.

"OWW!" Max exclaims. "What the fuck did I trip over?" Max looks around and after two seconds sees something in front of him that causes him to gasp loudly.

"Is that what I think it is?" Max wonders as he pokes at the item a couple of times, before he realizes where it probably was the last time it was used. "EWW!" he disgustingly sounds out as he runs for the bathroom to wash his hands. As Max lathers the soap and turns on the hot water, he asks himself, "How did that thing end up in _my_ room?" Coming up with a conclusion of how the object came to being in his room, he grabs the bar of soap again and rubs his hands together, feverishly.

* * *

The distance from the hospital to Kelly's house is about three miles, and in this three mile walk, the mind of Kelly Mordetsky is cleared from the anger and frustrations she has harbored for many people over the years. One person that she has been particularly mean towards is obviously Solidad, and in a lot of ways, Kelly feels that Solidad doesn't deserve it. In her mind, Kelly has tried nicely to tell Solidad that she is not in love with her, but Solidad is persistent in her efforts to make Kelly her steady girlfriend, despite her clear and obvious affection for May Maple.

Over the years, two other people that Kelly has shown a lot of anger towards are her mother Sonya and her father Micah, who compared to Jo-Jo and Adman's reactions towards their daughter Zoey coming out, reacted quite negatively to Kelly's confession, claiming among several things that she didn't know what she was talking about, and that she was crazy. Though it has been several years since Kelly came out to her parents at the age of twelve and they now both accept and love her daughter as she is, the hell that she went through due to her parents not wanting a lesbian for their only child still hurts her deep inside. A lot of nights, even now as a twenty year old, Kelly has cried herself to sleep thinking about the hateful thoughts that still harbors for her parents.

Although she still loves and cares for her parents deeply, and the feelings are mutual for both parties, Kelly often finds it difficult to forget the hurtful words that her parents would often use to describe her after she came out of the closet. She finds it difficult to forget when she attended meetings with groups like the Exodus movement and other anti-gay movements, which were cleverly disguised as group family therapy sessions with licensed doctors and practitioners, and Kelly finds it a struggle day after day to act like everything in her life is okay in front of the media, especially the press.

As Kelly makes her way to the front door, she notices that her limousine is parked in the driveway, with Gordon washing it as the sun goes down for the night.

"Hey, Gordon," Kelly calls out, "what happened this morning?" to which Gordon answers, "An emergency in Pallet Town that I had to tend to."

Quite astute in seeing behind the spoken words of the people she knows best, Kelly asks Gordon, "May took the limo, right?" to which Gordon gives her a thumbs up and throws her the key to the limo. Looking closely at the key in her right hand, Kelly grins like a Cheshire cat, and declares, "May is gonna get it, and get it good."

Kelly then focuses on entering the door and coming face to face with her mom once again. Opening the door to her house, she announces loudly, "Mom, I'm home!" to no answer. "Mom? Where are you?"

"I'm in the den, Kelly. Your father is here, too. Come on in!" a voice tiredly replies back to Kelly. Confused for a second by the fact that her father is also in the house, Kelly nevertheless goes inside of the den to find her mother Sonya resting on the couch, her father Micah tending to her by placing a thermometer inside her mouth, and off to the side sitting on a chair is…

"Solidad? What are you doing here?" Kelly asks in an attempt to hide her disapproval of the older girl being in her house.

"Oh, Kelly, you wouldn't believe it," Micah answers, seemingly for Solidad, "The daughter of the pastor at our church from some years ago came here to Lilycove to do some Good Samaritan work, and when she heard about mom being at the hospital, Solidad came here to help her out. And let's not forget about her Grand Festival victory from some years back. She's also out on her pokemon journey just like your friend, May."

"Okay," Kelly skeptically responds, knowing that that story is nothing short of a lie based on their brief conversation in Drew's car. Turning to Solidad, Kelly asks the Pewter City native, "May I have a word with you alone, Solidad?"

Not wavering from her cheerful demeanor for even a second, Solidad agrees to the one on one meeting with Kelly, but before they can leave for Kelly's room, Sonya asks her to set up the guest bedroom for Solidad, who will be spending the night at their home. Unbeknownst to Micah and Sonya, Kelly cringes upon hearing this news, but turns back to tell her mother that she'll get to work on the guest bedroom for Solidad.

"Thanks, Kelly," Sonya compliments from the couch. "I love you. I always will." Hesitant, but nevertheless in agreement with her mother, Kelly says that she loves her, too.

Walking down the halls that lead to the bedrooms, Solidad can't stop talking about how the two of them are going to have a sleepover, which prompts Kelly to sharply turn back to Solidad and point a finger in her face.

"First of all," Kelly sternly admonishes, "we are _not_ sleeping together. Never in a _billion_ years will we ever do that again." 'Biggest fucking mistake I ever made in my life,' she thinks with scorn clouding her thoughts. "And second of all," Kelly continues with her voice breaking, "you lied to me and my parents to get into _my_ house, and my parents think the world of you much like they think the world of me!" Slumping down onto the floor, Kelly sobs, asking Solidad, "God, what the fuck do you want from me, Solie? Yeah, I may not be the model Christian girl. I made many mistakes, and I've fucked up more times than you can ever imagine. I am a lesbian, and I've had sex with…Lord knows how many girls over the past eight years, and on top of all of that, I'm the other woman who is wrecking a fairy tale romance in May and Drew. If you loved me, you'd know that I've had a fucked up life that nobody here can understand."

After a few more seconds of Kelly's crying, Solidad gets down on one knee and uses her thumbnail to wipe away Kelly's tears. "There, there, cutie," Solidad coos with affection. "You know, you're right about something. No one down here can understand what you're going through, but," Solidad points up into the sky, reminding Kelly that, "he does. You might think you're the only one going through this, but you're not. Just talk to him. When was the last time you talked to him, Kelly?"

Kelly shakes her head, as she can't remember offhand the last time she had a real conversation with God, and then she regretfully tells Solidad that she doesn't know.

"It's okay," Solidad assures in a nonjudgmental fashion. "He still loves you, and people just need to be reminded of that sometimes." Solidad then gets up on her two feet and tells Kelly that she'll set up the guest room herself and leave her alone for the night.

Kelly is left intentionally by Solidad to think about everything that she has said, and while her work as a businesswoman has made her into a multimillionaire, the words of a traveling coordinator have made her feel lower and cheaper than gum at the bottom of a shoe. She spends the next several minutes crying in the corner of her bedroom hallway, with the only words coming out of her mouth, being, "Why, God? Why all of this?" as she crawls into a position mimicking a fetus clinging to the cord for comfort.

* * *

If the mood was not somber in the waiting room of the Critical Care Unit, then the average person would have thought that the people there were congregating for a family and friends get together. Indeed, earlier that day, they got together under the best of circumstances with world class pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum proposing to his longtime girlfriend Jessie Palmer over a lunch date, but during the end of the date, when Ash went to the car to get a camera for his mother, he didn't come back. Among those waiting in the waiting room, Jessie had the misfortune of finding her fiancée unconscious with a pool of blood near his head.

Hysterical, Jessie came back inside the restaurant to alert anyone with hearing abilities to help Ash in his time of need. Immediately, Brock, James and a host of others attempted to resuscitate Ash while an ambulance came onto the scene some scant minutes later. Since that moment, all of the members of the luncheon and a few of the people that worked in the restaurant waited for any information that CCU had to relay back to them on Ash's condition.

It has been nearly four hours since the doctors have admitted Ash into a trauma unit, and the tension in the room has gotten to several people, one of which being his best friend Gary Oak, who despite the fact that the two have had their ups and downs over the years has been a great friend in need, providing great advice about dating and relationships while Ash began to date Jessie. Gary has shed tears from the time he begged Delia not to see Ash in his current state to right now, as he anticipates the worst from the doctors in CCU.

'Please, for the love of God, man,' Gary thinks, 'don't die. Everything was going right. Everything was going your way and _this_ happens? Lord, I can't imagine life without my best friend. I can't help but be selfish in this instance, because I've known Ash since we were in diapers. Lord, please answer my prayers and save my best friend.' After this silent prayer, Gary breaks down once again in a fit of tears near James and Brock.

Not too far away from those three are the former pair of Delia and Giovanni, who over the past 25 years have both worked together in some form or capacity to raise their son. While Giovanni has admittedly not been their for his son physically, he has supported his son financially by funding Delia in her dream of becoming a restaurateur, so that she and their son can live without worry. As running Team Rocket became more and more expensive and stressful, Giovanni made a choice to sell his majority share to a gaming and casino company known as Avenue V ('V' being the Roman numeral for five). Much of the decision making that went behind this process had to deal with handing the company over to the highest bidder, without considering whose hands the company would be in.

Despite this, for a cleared three hundred million dollars in capital, Giovanni sold the company less than four years ago to spend more time with his family and attempt to make up lost time with his son. Despite Ash learning that his father, the former pokemon trainer was the head of Team Rocket, he was exceedingly forgiving to Giovanni, even with the subsequent Avenue Five scandal, and immediately welcomed him back into his life.

'Life,' Giovanni ponders in silence. 'It seems so…fragile when you really think about it. But death is, in fact, life. I mean, we will all die, but…'

"No," the ex-boss of Team Rocket whispers, grabbing the attention of his former lover in the process. Giovanni then gets up from his seat, and pounds the wall, screaming, "No, damn it! No!" and then he proceeds to slide down onto the cold tile floor, sobbing as he lands on his knees, and falls forward, leaving him on the floor on all fours.

As everyone in the room looks on in surprise at the former ruthless gang leader showing his human side, Delia walks up to him and asks him what hurts the most.

Sniffling and trying to regain his composure in the face of the situation, Giovanni explains to Delia, "I'm his father…but I haven't really shown it like I should have. I'm supposed to be his protector, and I wasn't there. How could this have happened? Who could've done this to my son? He's more of a man than I'll ever be. He didn't have to take me back and bring me back into his life, but…he did." Shaking for a few seconds, Giovanni then admits, "God, I wish it would've been me!"

Upon hearing this, Delia grabs Giovanni's chin and sternly demands that he never say something idiotic like that again.

"Why not?" he questions.

Delia then rubs the back of the ex-businessman and explains, "You—no. _We_ have to believe that he'll pull through. Besides, you know how hard headed Ash is." Delia felt that the mood needed to be lightened in the room. When Ash's friends talked about how they remembered Ash earlier, she stopped them, claiming that it does nobody any favors to talk about Ash as if he were dead.

While trying to get Giovanni back up on his feet, Delia looks to the end of the room near the door where Jessie is standing and has been standing for the past couple of hours. Everyone from Brock and James, to Meowth and Tracey all the way down to Delia, Giovanni, and a few of the restaurant workers has tried to talk to her to get her feelings, give her some food or drink, and even ask her to sit down, with no success. She hasn't spoken a word, but her face shows a clear indication that much of her time has been spent crying, as her makeup has run from her face.

Her thoughts have all been focused on her husband to be, as he is in a fight far grander in its importance than any badge, or league championship. It's amazing how they went from bitter enemies less than five years ago, to now being fiancées, but she's not complaining. The last couple of years she has spent with Ash Ketchum have felt like nothing short of a dream, but unfortunately for him and the people that love and care for him so much, the last several hours have felt like a nightmare that everyone wishes they could just wake up from like a hypnotic trance.

Speaking of waking up, the opening of the door to the waiting room in CCU causes everyone expecting news on Ash's condition to turn up from whatever they were doing. Without meaning any offense to the person at the door, they really wanted to see the doctor and find out about their friend.

Trying to keep a smile on his face in the face of what he heard on the phone from Gary, another one of Ash's longtime friends Richie enters the room and softly says hello to everyone in the room, who likewise say hello to Richie.

As Richie explains to the people in the room, "I came as soon as I could. And the details Gary gave me…God, this is horrible. I—how could someone do something so senseless? I mean, Ash didn't have any enemies, did he? I know the police are treating the restaurant like a crime scene for obvious reasons, but…this is sick!"

Jessie, more so than anyone else in the room listens to Richie's comments and internalizes them, knowing that someone out there is responsible for Ash being injured, possibly fatally. She doesn't get to think much about it, though, as not too long after Richie enters the waiting room, the prayers of the family and friends have been answered, as after a enduring wait, a doctor enters the room wearing his medical smock, and calling for the immediate family of Ash Ketchum.

Both Giovanni and Delia rise up from their seats to meet with and shake hands with the doctor, who introduces himself as Dr. Ron Sloan. Getting to the point, Dr. Sloan explains to the gallery, "Ash is in critical but stable condition right now. We did an MRI on him, and fortunately, he doesn't appear to be suffering any major damage to his brain."

Upon hearing this, a feather could have knocked down all of the people in the waiting room, as they know that Ash has more than dodged a bullet from the assault. Not wanting to get their hopes up, the family and friends reserve their show of positive emotion. "Despite this," the doctor continues, "his skull and his facial features are severely cracked in several places. He underwent surgery to repair his face and skull, and it was successful, though he did lose quite a bit of blood from the initial shot to the back of his head."

"Whoever tended to him did a great job of applying pressure to his wound, which probably saved his life. Nevertheless, due to the blood loss that he suffered, the amount of oxygen that was getting to his brain at the time of this attack was reduced a great deal, albeit for a brief period. Because of that, he's in a coma, and…the next 24-48 hours will be critical for him."

The doctor stresses in his diagnosis of his patient, "He is, however, in good enough condition that he can be seen by two people at a time, but only for a minute each. Now…" Dr. Sloan stops speaking, as he realizes that this next part can be exceedingly difficult for family and friends, "who would like to…go see Ash first?"

Delia and Giovanni look to each other and then whisper in each other's ears and come up with their decision, mutually agreeing to be the first ones to see Ash, but something inside of Delia causes her to come up with the decision that she does.

After approximately 30 seconds, Delia walks up to Dr. Sloan and explains, "Doctor Sloan, we understand and respect the rules and regulations of this hospital a great deal, but…even though Ash's father and I agreed to be the first ones to see Ash, we'd like to know if you could bend the rules a bit so that Ash's fiancée Jessie can see him along with us."

Jessie, who is standing off to the side of the doctor, hears Delia's comments and raises her eyebrows in pleasant surprise. She thought for certain that Delia and Giovanni would go first, followed by her and either Gary, Richie or Brock, but Delia saw fit to make sure that Jessie got to see her fiancée first, if she could help it.

"Please, doctor?" Delia begs of the M.D. Having seen all of the people in the waiting room that truly cared for the well being of this young patient, Dr. Sloan was taken aback somewhat. He knew that there were always people out there that care, but very rarely has he seen a crowd care for someone in Ash's state to the point that it hurts.

Convinced that the family means well, Dr. Sloan allows Delia, Giovanni and Jessie to all come together and see Ash against his better judgment. Walking to the CCU, he prepares Ash's mother, father and fiancée for what they are about to see by explaining to him that Ash is attached to numerous breathing machines, intravenous fluids and is on life support. He also explained to the trio that they should brace themselves for what they are about to see.

As they get to the door of Ash's room, Dr. Sloan gives the three a final warning before entering the room, by telling them that this is the final time that they will be able to back out of seeing Ash. Asking everyone if they're ready to go inside, they timidly say yes to the doctor, who opens the door, and welcomes the three inside. As if they were all a part of a human funeral procession, Delia, Giovanni and finally Jessie walked into the room and found Ash resting on the hospital bed.

Just as the doctor told them, Ash is attached to numerous breathing machines, syringes, a heart monitor and a life support machine pumping life giving oxygen into the background. His face has far too many stitches to count. Some of the stitches are keeping his right eye shut, and the entire scene looked very gruesome and graphic like an episode of _C.S.I._ or _ER._ The only problem is that those shows are obviously fiction, and the person that they are looking at right now is very much real and in very dire straights.

At this point in time, the three have spent about one minute in the room with Ash Ketchum. The doctor knows that the group has gone past their allotted time, but is allowing this rule breaking in this special case. Delia walks over to the side of her son after getting a look at him from every angle, and tells him with the hope that he can hear her, "Ash? I want you to know that dad, Jessie, Gary, Brock and everyone else…we love you very much, and we're pulling for you to pull through." Delia then leans over to an unaffected portion of her son's face, and kisses him while a tear runs down her face and down onto the exposed stomach of Ash.

As Delia steps aside, Giovanni then comes forward and gently grabs Ash's near hand, and lets Ash know, "You're a fighter, son. You always have been a fighter, and as I came back into your life, I could see it." As Giovanni squeezes the hand of his son tighter and tighter, he continues, "It's not in your nature to crawl up in a ball and die_ without_ putting up a hell of a fight. Out of my own selfishness, I have to admit that I cried more now than in the last 25 years imagining life without you, but never again, son, because you're going to live. No, you won't just live, you're gonna thrive. I believe it." Giovanni finally lets go of Ash's hand, and walks back to Delia, hugging her and thanking her for her strength in this difficult time.

Finally, of the three people in the room at the time, Jessie came up to Ash and like Giovanni before her; she held the young man's hand. Looking her fiancée dead in the eyes, hoping that he can at least sense her presence, she talks to Ash, informing him, "We have a life together." Looking at the ring on her finger, she adds, "We're engaged to be married, and well before the prime of your life, too. You can't back out of this right now. You're too stubborn to give up in _anything_. You have so much to look forward to that," at this point, Jessie's voice starts to break, "it'd be a goddamn shame if we couldn't share our lives together by growing old and…I don't know. There's nothing in my life outside of maybe my mother's death which happened when I was, like, five years old," Jessie pauses and presses her left hand to her forehead in a vain attempt to find the right words to say in this situation.

"What do you say?" Jessie asks, rhetorically. "Nothing could prepare me for this in a million years, but I know this much. We're gonna get married, Ash. We're gonna be husband and wife. We're gonna have a Growlithe and a house with a white picket fence, and were gonna have two or three kids, and we're gonna watch our kids grow up and have kids of their own."

Delia watches this essentially from the sidelines along with Giovanni and Dr. Sloan, and all parties are becoming very teary-eyed at the sight of Jessie living out the future that she and Ash were supposed to have.

Jessie notices absolutely none of this, as she takes in one deep, long breath, and proclaims with the indication of malice laden within her voice, "But before I do all of that, the bastard that did this to you…must die."

Delia sees the emotion start to take over Jessie and tries to get her to settle down, but Jessie is determined to say her peace. Letting go of Ash's hand and turning to her future mother-in-law, she elaborates, while pointing to Ash, "Do you see, mom? Do you see what that _cunt_ did to your son? Whoever did this is no human being! He's a fucking monster, and if I could get face to face with him, I wouldn't give a second thought to killing the mother fucker! Anyone who would do something like that doesn't deserve to live, _period!_ They deserve to _fucking_ rot in hell!"

With the emotions becoming far too much for the former Team Rocket member, Jessie runs out of the room, yelling 'This is bullshit,' with Delia and Giovanni following right behind her and leaving Ash in his room alone with the simple sounds of a whirring generator, an electrocardiogram and a life support machine providing noise.

The entire scene reeks of a large amount of inactivity and lifelessness, but somewhere deep within the reserves of the minds of the comatose Ash Ketchum, he can still feel, and he can still hear. After hearing Jessie and feeling his mom, dad and fiancée leave the room, he thinks to himself while in his coma 'I love you guys, too. Dad, I want you to know that I'm fighting, and I'll get out of this sooner than later. And Jess? You're right. I am too stubborn, but don't do anything to jeopardize us. Don't hurt May, Jessie. It's just not worth it. I promise I will be back.'

Several minutes after Delia, Giovanni and Jessie saw Ash, the next groups of James and Brock, Gary and Richie, and Tracy and Professor Oak come into the room to see Ash, albeit much more reserved than the initial group. James and Brock, after seeing Ash for themselves, inform Jessie and the others that they have business to tend to in Pewter City as soon as they can. Both young men give Delia and Jessie hugs, with James whispering in Jessie's ear, "Please let us know how he's doing." Jessie nods to James, silently affirming that she will, as the secret pair tells everyone good night.

Once out of sight of the gallery in the waiting room, Brock and James walk to the exit of the hospital, holding each other's shoulders. As they finally leave and come face to face with the humid June night in Pallet, the two are immediately bull rushed by anywhere from 8-10 news and television reporters wanting to know about the condition of Ash Ketchum and the events that led up to his attack. Sighing in the wake of the media bombardment, they answer as many questions as they can and after nearly a half hour of the third degree, they make their way towards their destination, the Pewter City gym.

* * *

It is just after midnight at the Neale summer house, and walking down the stairs in her penguin printed blue pajamas is Dawn, who just can't seem to get to sleep on this early Friday morning. Knowing several methods that her mother used to get her to sleep, Dawn heads for the extensively large kitchen, more specifically, the refrigerator to warm up some milk and try to go back to sleep for the night.

Making her way to the kitchen, she spots someone sitting at the table that she recognizes quite well.

"Zoey?" she questions just to make absolutely sure it's her, to which the redhead replies "In the flesh. So you couldn't sleep either, 'eh Dawn?"

After a chuckle, Dawn admits that indeed she couldn't get to sleep, and then, Dawn sits down at the table next to her girlfriend, giving her a light kiss on the lips.

A few seconds pass, and Dawn legitimately asks Zoey, "Do you think that us being together like this tonight is against your parent's rules?"

Shaking her head for a moment while her face is brightened by the moonlight, Zoey answers, "Fuck, I hope not. But we're not sleeping together, and we're not in the same bed, so I suppose that it doesn't count. You know, the more I think about it, the more I think I know the reason why I'm having trouble getting to sleep. Since we've shared a bed, I've slept like a baby, even though it's only been…two nights since we've shared a bed. Thoughts of you, and knowing that your next to me, lulled me to sleep like one of my mother's songs when I was three years old, or one of Rocky's bedtime stories. The fact that I know that…someone was there every night to see your way into dream world made going to bed a lot of fun for me at times."

"I know what you mean," Dawn relates. "Some nights I would not go to sleep unless my mother would read the same bedtime story every night, which was this picture book of _Cinderella_, and she would sing songs from the movie. My favorite of all time was _Someday…"_

"_My Prince Will Come," _Zoey finishes in unison with Dawn. From this point, Zoey hypothesizes, "That's what you've always dreamed of ever since you were a little girl, right?"

Dawn nods and says that that's correct, but Zoey is not done digging quite yet. With some smugness in her voice, she then asks the blue haired beauty, "So, did your prince come to you?"

"Well," Dawn begins, "let's just say that everyday I've spent with you, I feel like a princess. You've protected me, defended me, and comforted me when I needed it, and I thank you for that a great deal. I know that I have baggage and a lot of it, I'm not as willing to be open about as I probably should be in the position that we're in as a couple. It's not that I don't want to, but a lot of this stuff that I'm keeping, my mother doesn't even know about. I promise I won't keep it for long, though."

Wanting to change the subject, Zoey asks her girlfriend, "So…technically, this is the first day of the family reunion. What do you think of my family so far, Dawn?"

"They're great," Dawn compliments. "I know that each family has their black sheep, and even though I thought it was Rocky, nobody in the family can compare with…Kristen Townes, but I'm glad that her opinion doesn't represent the rest of the family. How dare she say that we're weird! _She's _the weird one. You know what? Never mind her. She's just one person in your big, happy, supporting family."

Zoey drops her face down so it's facing the dining room table, and she sighs deeply. "Dawn?" she says, grabbing her girlfriend's attention, "There's also my mom's side of the family. Remember, they're coming to the house tomorrow."

"So?" Dawn asks, not understanding why Zoey is so despondent.

"My family—my mom's side of the family…none of them know that I'm gay. I've had trouble telling them, because…just about all of them are devout Christians."

Dawn is taken aback by this, thinking that the vacation and the family reunion would provide ample opportunities for her and Zoey to get away from potential gay bashers. Dawn doesn't know what to think about Zoey's latest revelation, so she decides to take some time alone and think.

Dawn gets up from her seat and says to Zoey, "I need some time to think about this."

"Dawn, don't…"

"I'm just gonna smoke a cigarette and think about this, then I'm going back to bed. Goodnight, Zoey."

"Dawn," Zoey begins as she gets up from her seat and attempts to talk to her, "I just wanna talk to you about this! If you had known…"

As Dawn comes within a couple of feet of the house door, she turns around sharply, and faces Zoey, raising her voice, exclaiming "_Goodnight, Zoey!_" as Dawn turns back to the door and exits the house, leaving Zoey to ponder why she would keep something like this from her girlfriend, even if it had the potential to cause an even greater reaction than the one Dawn gave her.

Looking at the front door for a second, knowing what her parents told her, and convinced that right now is not a good time to talk about this with Dawn, Zoey curses as she pounds the front door and makes her way back to her bedroom to try and fall asleep without her love by her side.

* * *

A/N: As you can tell, Rave The Rich is no longer on hiatus, and neither is this story, and might I also say, what a way to come back. We now know the origins of Kelly and Solidad's history, but bes believe that what you've read so far is only scratching the surface. Dawn seems to fit the Neale family like a glove, but as you've just read, the Baker family is probably going to be a much different story. All secrets are eventually revealed in the end, so why go through the expense of keeping them, Zoey and Dawn? Sigh. Will they ever learn, and just what the heck was Misty shopping for, and furthermore, we _still_ don't know why the heck was Kelly's mom Sonya at the hospital?

Also, Drew is ready to go to the next level with May, but is May ready to go to the next level with Drew, and what does Max have in store for May to stop her from continuing her pack of lies? So just what are James and Brock planning to do in Pewter City? And Ash knows that May was the one who attacked him? Are you kidding me? It makes you wish he could come out of that coma and tell everybody, don't you think? No way, Jose. If that happened, where would we get our drama?

Speaking of drama, stay tuned as the drama continues in this, the second season of 'A Confession Gone Awry,' the season where it all comes back to haunt us. Don't forget to read and review, now, and be safe!


	15. Vacation: Blessed and Cursed Events

A Confession Gone Awry

The trio of Rocky, Corey and Mikey make their way to the summer house to find that most of their family members on dad's side of the family are already there. Dawn and Zoey, who have stayed on the property for the entire day, joke and converse with many of Zoey's cousins, including Tyler, Tyson and Gaby. Desperate for some time alone knowing they won't get it when they go to bed; Zoey and Dawn excuse themselves and head for Zoey's bed to make out without distractions. It's here that Mikey admits to Zoey and Dawn that she is the one who told Jo-Jo and Adman about their activities in the shower.

Kelly, along with Drew, Max and Solidad drive to Lilycove General Hospital to check on Kelly's mother, Sonya. When Kelly makes it to the hospital, she finds that her mother has already been checked out by Micah Mordetsky, her father. Upon hearing this, Kelly thanks Drew for the ride, and chooses to walk home. Max hits a roadblock because of this, but tells Kelly that he's not finished. Once Drew and Max leave, Solidad forces a kiss on Kelly, who in a very mean fashion, tells Solidad that she's not in love with her.

May comes back from her hit on Ash Ketchum and meets up with Drew at her house. Drew tells May that he's ready to take their relationship to the next level, and May is admittedly hesitant. In another room, Max tells Misty all of the events that have led up to Thursday night, including Kelly finding out about their relationship, and using it to potentially blackmail the two should Max squeal. Max, during this time, also overhears May and Drew's plans for tomorrow and works on finding a way to confront May beforehand. While pacing back and forth in his room trying to come up with a plan, Max trips on something and wonders just how it came into his room.

Once Kelly makes it to her house, she learns that May was the one who took her limo. She doesn't mind it, and then makes her way into the house. She goes into the den to find her mother lying down on her couch, and her father tending to her. What she also finds to her surprise is Solidad in her house. Micah explains that Solidad, who is the daughter of the pastor of their old church, came to Lilycove to do some volunteering, found out about Sonya, and came to their house to help out and spend the night. A conversation about faith and love causes Kelly to cry like a baby as Solidad sets up her guest bedroom.

The many guests at the luncheon and proposal are at the hospital, and as Richie comes in, so does the head surgeon. He explains that Ash is in a coma, but doesn't have any brain damage. Jessie vows to kill the person that did this to Ash, and James and Brock make their way to Pewter City. Zoey and Dawn can't go to sleep, and have a nice conversation, until Zoey reveals that her mom's side of the family doesn't know of her homosexuality, due to the fact that most of them are devout Christians. Dawn says she has to think about this, and their conversation ends on a bad note, as Dawn raises her voice to Zoey.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 15- Vacation Part 8: Blessed and Cursed Events)

* * *

Up just before the start of sunrise, Dawn went out for a jog on the boardwalk to clear her head and give her something to do. Truth be told, Dawn could not get a wink of sleep during the night, as her thoughts were still focused on what Zoey told her several hours ago about her mother's side of the family.

The jog helped clear her head some, as she realized that although Zoey kept another secret from her, she has had more than her own share of secrets that she has kept from Zoey and many of the other people she loves. As Dawn jogs through the never-ending trail of closed shops and stores, she realizes that considering that her own closet is not necessarily clean, it would not be right to call somebody out on the same. She was not too proud to admit that she might have been too hard on Zoey when she heard her news concerning the Baker family, because in all likelihood, Zoey kept it from Dawn to prevent it from upsetting her, just like she also kept the family reunion secret, as she explained to Dawn.

Dawn stops her jogging and considers all of Zoey's actions over the past day, and realizes that Zoey meant absolutely no harm in withholding the truth about the Baker family, and snapped during a time when the two really could have talked and come to a better understanding about how to handle their relationship while the Baker's were nearby.

Gathering all of her thoughts together, Dawn sits down on a park bench and somberly states, "I really blew it. I walked out on Zoey when things got tough. I did exactly what I _shouldn't_ have done. I mean, we're a couple, for God's sake! If I walk out of this, there's no telling what else I'll walk out on."

"Now, that's something I haven't heard in a while from you, Dawn," a voice from a few feet away speaks. Feeling that she has heard the voice once before, Dawn turns to her right and sees a young man in his late teens wearing a uniform. Still not recognizing him, she takes a look at his facial features, and notices his purple hair, even in the dark of pre-dawn night. But this couldn't be him, could it? For one, _he_ never smiled, but even in night, this young man's smile could be seen from over a mile away.

Not wanting to wait another second longer, Dawn asks the man a question concerning his identity. "Paul? Is that you?"

With a voice more gentle than a baby's bottom, the gentleman in question answers, "Yes, ma'am," and then walks forward to Dawn, giving her a big hug. After a few seconds, Paul releases his hug. "Listen, Dawn. I want to do two things. One, I'd like to apologize to you for the way I treated you when we were together. It was wrong of me to take advantage of you when I really didn't love you. And second of all, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you. After I came out to you, I became _very_ depressed, and…I realized that a lot of that depression had to do with the fact that I wasn't being honest with myself. Nothing in the world mattered to me, and that makes for a pretty dull existence. So, after a lot of soul searching, I decided to retire from pokemon training, and come out to all of my family and friends. Some people didn't want anything to do with me anymore, but…in retrospect, it was for the best. If they were even friends, then by no means were they true friends."

"Overtime, I went through counseling and confronted past demons. One of the things that my counselor talked about was atonement, or making up for my errors of the past. She said that it would be best to focus the anger that I still had inside of me towards something positive, so I decided to become a police officer, and over the years, I hope to eventually work my way up the ladder and become my own boss by becoming a private investigator." After saying his peace up until this point, Paul starts to tear up, which is something that Dawn has not seen in almost four years. "You would not believe the quality of my life now, and you have a lot to do with that, Dawn. I love myself, and that's not something I could say when we were together or for some time before or after that. I have the greatest partner that a guy could ever ask for, and…life is good. Life really is good, and I really think that I have all that a guy could ever ask for in this life."

Seeing Paul in his emotional state, Dawn grabs a handkerchief and gives it to Paul to use. Thanking Dawn, he uses it, and after a few minutes, calms himself to speak to Dawn and ask her why she's out so late at night.

Dawn smugly replies back to Paul, "I could ask you the same thing, Paul."

"Dawn," Paul states, suddenly becoming serious in his speech, "Remember, I'm a police officer trainee, and my beat is on the boardwalk of the Seafoam islands. I'm on the lookout for everything illegal under the sun, including, but not limited to, drug dealing, violence, pokemon poaching, and prostitution. You're not here for any of that, are you?"

Dawn hears Paul's rap, and can hear the arrogance laden in his voice as he broke down his reasoning behind being at the boardwalk late at night. 'Still sounds like the same old Paul, though.' Thinking that Paul is half joking with a lot of the things he just said, Dawn hesitantly laughs when she tells Paul that she's not here for any trouble of any sort. As she explains, "I…had a fight with someone, and came out here to think things over. I overreacted to something that someone has no control over, whatsoever."

"Boyfriend trouble?" Paul wonders out loud.

Dawn laughs up a storm for about 15 seconds, catching Paul off guard for a bit before she explains the irony of her situation to Paul. "Paul, believe it or not, the thing is that…I'm spending the summer with…Zoey. She's my new girlfriend."

When Dawn finishes, Paul now becomes the one who laughs up a storm as he tells Dawn, "I kind of had a feeling that you were, Dawn. It's been all over the news since Sunday afternoon at the Grand Festival. But ever since then, no one has seen either of you two. If there is any place in the pokemon world to hide out, this would be it. I didn't know that you accepted her as your girlfriend, though. I never suspected it of you, but…I kinda had a feeling that Zoey was gay."

Taking in a deep breath, Dawn admits to Paul, "Honestly, when I think about it, Paul, and please don't tell anyone this…I'm not quite sure if I'm gay or not."

"But you're with Zoey!"

"That may be true," Dawn agrees, "but that doesn't necessarily mean I could see myself with another girl. If I were really a lesbian, wouldn't I find other women and girls sexually attractive?" Thinking about it for a second, Paul nods his head, agreeing with Dawn's logic. "The fact is, with the exception of Zoey, I'm not attracted to any other woman. When I see girls in their bikinis on the boardwalk, I don't…it does nothing for me. I don't get anything out of it at all."

"Have you talked to Zoey about this—how you feel about not thinking that you're gay?"

"That's the thing, Paul!" Dawn regrettably explains. "I don't think it does me any favors to admit this. I don't want to upset her by making her think I could leave at any time for another guy, but keeping this from her…"

"You shouldn't keep secrets, period," Paul frankly lectures. "They just lead to more secrets, and all secrets have a way of coming out in the end." Paul looks at the time and cringes when he realizes how much time he has spent with Dawn on the boardwalk. "Look, the Sergeant is gonna have me for dinner if I don't give him a full report of the boardwalk activities before 8am, so we're gonna have to wrap this conversation up early. But…I have to thank you, because you helped me realize that power isn't everything in life." Paul then pulls out what appears to be not one, but two business cards. "If you ever need anything, and I mean _anything_, call these numbers, and ask for my name, Paul Warrick. I'll see what I can do to help you."

Dawn is taken aback by Paul's niceness, but nevertheless is thankful for it, and wholeheartedly accepts it. "Paul, this is…you really don't have to do this."

"I want to. I put you through hell, and I might have made you think that because I was with you that I went gay."

Gritting her teeth for just a second, Dawn assures Paul, "No. That—I never felt that…how do I put this? I never…I knew that it couldn't have been entirely me, but I've always thought I had something to do with it, you know? Like, I was a catalyst for your coming out. But I was just angry that day, kind of like I was with Zoey earlier in the evening."

"And in a way," Paul interrupts, "I should be thanking you for being angry," and then Paul opens Dawn's right hand, and places the business cards inside of her hand, "So whenever you need me, I won't be far away. I'll see you around, Dawn," Paul concludes, riding on the illuminated bicycle that he parked on a boardwalk street light nearby. As Paul rides off to another part of the boardwalk, the first indications of the sun come up from the horizon. Dawn decides to end her jog early and head back to the summer house to right more than just a few wrongs she's committed in the past few days.

* * *

Pouring herself and Gordon a cup of coffee at around 7:30am, Solidad also looks at the front page of the newspaper, and reads to Gordon the main headline of the day along with the other extraneous hard news accompanying the boldface type.

She and Gordon are shocked out of their minds to learn many of the details concerning Ash Ketchum's attack from a day ago, and the gruesome details that the paper has revealed about his numerous injuries to his face and to the back of his head. While the paper highlighted that Ash showed no signs of any brain damage, it did a great job of detailing the terrible condition he is currently in, and putting that over his comatose state.

"This is just terrible," Gordon laments. "Absolutely terrible. Who would do something like this to him? I can remember when Mistress Kelly wanted to sign Ash to a written contract so he could be the spokesperson for the pokeblock business. I drove them to several of their meetings together and I got to meet with Ash and talk with him several times, and…I always found him to be a real class act."

"I hope you're not talking about me, Gordon," says a voice near the doorway that leads to the kitchen. This voice belongs to Kelly, who is casually dressed in dark blue jeans, a light green buttoned down shirt, and her hair tied back in two pigtails. "Hey Solidad. Umm, Gordon? Could you leave me and Solidad here for a few minutes? There are a couple of things that we need to discuss alone."

"Will do, Mistress Kelly," Gordon answers, taking his mug of coffee with him, along with the newspaper to read some more about the attack on Ash Ketchum. Once Gordon is out of the picture, Kelly walks to the refrigerator and takes out a carton of orange juice, uses a glass from the cupboard, and pours the drink two-thirds of the way to the top of the glass. After placing the carton back into the fridge, Kelly sits down next to Solidad and takes a couple of sips.

"Sleep well?" Solidad inquires while tentatively looking at Kelly.

Kelly nods back to Solidad and after a few seconds, Kelly pounds the kitchen table with both hands, and begins the process of bearing her soul to the girl she affectionately called 'Solie'. "I'm sorry, Solie. You don't deserve to be treated like I treated you yesterday. Last night, I did a lot of soul searching and a lot of talking to God, and…while I seem to have everything a girl could want on the outside, I grew up a very angry and disturbed child on the inside. I've known that I am a lesbian since preschool, and because of my strong Christian upbringing, I was and still am faced with a huge conflict between myself and my faith. When I was young, like many of my peers, I really wasn't interested in the romance aspect of a relationship. I was just—the people that I was most attracted to during kindergarten and grammar school were the ones that I hung out with the most. You'd call them best friends, and in a manner of speaking, that's what they were, but…there was no way I would ever admit that I had crushes on them for the sole reason that it was different."

"Did you ever tell them that you loved them as a friend?"

"Yeah," Kelly corroborates. "It was a backhanded way of saying that 'I'm attracted to you,' but like I said, the odds of me actually admitting that to my crushes without it being ambiguous to whomever I was talking to were slim to none. Boys would get crushes on girls and girls would get crushes on boys, and that's what I was always taught. Sure, I went through and passed the stage of 'boys are icky' and what not, and afterwards, I thought that I would find boys attractive like some of my girl peers, but I didn't. I was scared out of my mind, because now, I was in the stage when hormones for everyone really start to…rage."

"It's around this time that kids would really start to become very cruel as choice terms like 'dyke', 'lesbo', 'gay' and the worst, 'Kelly-kun' would enter the kids' lexicon. It was the worst during the fifth grade and puberty hits, and damn, did it ever hit me hard. All the girls start to wear their training bras, and you start to see them…fill out, and you'd get turned on, especially during physical education. That was the worst, as you'd get to see them first hand. I'm surprised I didn't faint with many of those girls walking about topless in the locker rooms, but I was no exception to the many changes to my body, in fact, I probably had to deal with a greater change because…well, just look at pictures of me now and then, and you'll know."

Kelly doesn't get to finish her explanation, because Solidad laughs hard enough that now lukewarm coffee starts to squirt out of her nose. Much like her sexual partner, May, Kelly has a couple of very good assets that developed from quite an early age. Solidad regains her composure and says that she gets the idea.

"Something…must snap inside of the head of boys reaching puberty," Kelly hypothesizes, "that causes them to think they can nab any girl they want with a few sweet lines and some advice from their equally amorous friends. I couldn't count the number of times boys have flirted with me since I was about eight years old until now. Didn't mean a damn thing to me, but I couldn't come out, could I? Oh, no, Solie. A good Christian girl couldn't tell her parents that she liked girls in that way. It'd be worse than if I brought a gun to school and shot all of the boys that tried to grope me during recess! But I still couldn't come out. I couldn't risk being thrown out in the streets by my folks because of something I feel deep in my heart that I have no control over and I can't help."

"So school was tough for you, Kelly?" Solidad asks, already knowing the answer.

"It was hell," Kelly admits, nearly on the verge of tears. "I spent much of the back end of fifth grade dealing with insult after insult, and I got ostracized from the boys and the girls when…the rumor came out that I was gay. A teacher stepped in at long last, and said I've seen you around the halls and in recess being picked on. I told him my story under the premise that he doesn't tell my mom and dad what I told him, and he agreed. This teacher told me that no matter what, you don't deserve to be picked on, especially since you're not hurting anybody, and he said the next time someone calls you one of those awful names, fight back by using your words."

"So the next day at school, I did, and spent the next week in detention, because in my mind, words weren't enough, so I added fists to the equation. But I realized that when I hit someone, I would hit them really hard. That same teacher suggested that I try out a sport, so I decided to pick an individual sport in weight training to get in shape. Every day after school, there was this pokemon gym I'd go to nearby, and for hours on end, I would just lift weights, and get away from my parents for about two or three hours after school. And let me tell you Solie. Even at ten or eleven, I was damn strong. I could lift well over 100 kilograms, and for a time, I felt better, especially considering that I was done with school, and I could go into the family business and leave that part of my life behind."

"I had spent so much time at this pokemon gym lifting weights that I caught the eye of its owner. He saw my intensity and will to win, and the fact that I was over the age of ten, so he gave me a choice of one of his many reserve pokemon for me to keep and train. After a very short time, I decided to pick Grumpig as my pokemon, and almost immediately, my Grumpig and I started to work on making and selling pokeblock all across the Hoenn region."

"My feelings were for the most part, squashed for a while, as the business kept me busy all the time. I would work almost 18 hours a day, but I really love what I do, even now, with more responsibilities. So for about a year after school and learning the ropes from my mother, it got to the point where I could single-handedly run the shop day to day while mom and dad handled the business aspect. Things were going well until…I met May for the first time." The three letter name spoken by Kelly made Solidad's eyes almost glow green with envy, as she knew (but didn't want to admit) how close the two girls really are.

"She's amazing, and everything that you could ask for in not just a best friend, but a like partner. On top of that, I was always happy to be around her. I didn't think that she'd be girlfriend material the first time I saw her, but as we worked together in the shop and competed against each other in the contest house, I saw the fire and determination in her eyes, and knew for the first time what it truly meant to be captivated by…_somebody_. If I had any doubts that I was gay, they all went away when May left Lilycove."

"After that, even though I knew that it was a huge risk, I sat my parents down and told them that I'm a lesbian. I knew they wouldn't take it well at all, and they didn't. They said, among several other things, that I was crazy for thinking what I did, that I was sick, and even that something was mentally wrong with me, because in their minds…it was impossible for me to be a gay child, because straight parents raise straight children. It was just…so ignorant and," as Kelly's voice starts to break, she adds, "so hateful. I couldn't believe that the same parents who gave me life were now saying these awful things about me."

"After I came out to them, they told me to go to bed. That night, I cried myself to sleep and heard my mom and dad argue for hours, and I knew that it all had to do with me. Eventually, the arguing stopped, and I went to sleep, wondering what would happen to me tomorrow."

"The next day, when I went downstairs to have breakfast, my mom and dad were both at the table, and…I was scared to even say good morning to them. Can you imagine that? I dreaded saying the words 'good morning' to my own parents. I mustered up the courage to say good morning, and instead of saying those words back to me, my dad told me that after I was sent to bed, he and mom had a long conversation and luckily were able to get on the phone with…the church pastor and your father John Fitzpatrick O'Ryan. He said that he could make arrangements for a camp for me to go to so I could, and I quote 'Rid myself of the demons inside of me causing me to think these unclean thoughts.' I had no choice whatsoever in the matter, and in a matter of three days, my bags were packed, and I was placed on an airplane en route to the Agate Village in the Orre region to meet with a group called_ Exodus International_ that owned and operated a ministry camp in that area."

"Being in_ Exodus _was nothing short of a disaster. They tried to convince me that there was something inherently wrong with me that needed to be fixed. They called my behavior selfish and told me that I was a weak individual to fall into what they called the 'trap' of homosexuality and that acting upon my desires meant being led by temptation, which is something that we, as Christians, aren't supposed to do. They sent me back home within, I'd say, two weeks, and they told my parents that more drastic measures should be taken. One of them being…" at this point, Kelly finds it very difficult to continue, as she is fighting back tears.

Solidad holds Kelly in her arms, and Kelly doesn't resist. Solidad encourages Kelly by telling her, "It's okay, cutie. Just let it all out," to which Kelly wails loudly and for a long time.

Tearfully, Kelly continues to bear her soul to Solidad, by admitting, "They wanted to electroshock me, Solie! I was eleven _fucking_ years old, and they said, 'Hey! No problem. Anything to make our daughter not be herself anymore!' So, I went through it, and I was absolutely miserable. Obviously, it didn't work. So…for the next year, I went through every shrink, psychiatrist, psychologist, doctor, practitioner and zealot under the sun. Again, nothing out there could free me from my homosexuality, and by the time I turned twelve, I knew that this wasn't just something you could flick on and off like a light switch. Honestly, I've known that long before then, but this time, after going through all the bullshit, I knew it from experience."

"I started to rebel. I'd sneak out of the house; I experimented with drugs and alcohol, I wouldn't go to church and…around this time, I also found you. I learned that Pastor O'Ryan had thrown you out of the house for essentially the same reason that I was rebelling. We both talked and cried and sang songs to one another and comforted one another while in each other's arms for hours."

"I remember that night," Solidad recollects. "We were both lost causes in the eyes of our parents, and we had been emasculated and dehumanized so much by our folks, that…just the hug of someone that you know cares for you was enough to drive the two of us to tears. And then, I accidentally touched you on your right breast."

Kelly agrees with Solidad's story, and continues, "Right then and there, I would've given the world to just have someone caress me, touch me, and tell me that everything is gonna be fine, even though it probably wasn't. I practically begged for affection and what I though was love, and that touch led to me having sex for the very first time, and whether I liked it or not is irrelevant. I'm not naïve enough to think that it was good that at the age of eleven going on twelve I started having sex, but…I'm not blaming anyone for what happened. Honestly, I would have liked for us to continue in…some sort of a relationship, whether it would have been romantic or platonic after that, but…"

"My mom passed away," Solidad finishes, to the tune of sniffles and even more tears, "And I made the decision, because I was older and I knew that I only had one living parent at the time to leave you and try to reconcile with my father. I regret that to this very day, because…I always wonder what if, you know? I think what could've happened between us if I were with you before May came back into your life."

"Things between my father and I are…better than they were. We have our ups and downs, which is a lot more than what I can say when I came out to him and mom when I was 14, but…" with her voice breaking, Solidad states, "had I known that you were so disturbed, I would've reached out. I really would've, but everything back then happened so fast. I had no idea—_no idea_ whatsoever that you contemplated suicide when you were only twelve years old. You were just a baby, and no child should _ever_ think about wanting to end their life."

"My life was like a living hell at the time," Kelly speaks, just above a whisper, "so I thought, why go through all the anguish. I thought I'd really show my parents that I mean business when I got the nine millimeter out of my parent's closet, loaded it and pulled the trigger to my head. Mom opened the door to my room that night I planned to end it all, and she saw me with the gun in my hand, and freaked. She yelled, 'Kelly, don't do it!' which threw me off, because that actually sounded like she gave a shit about me for the first time in a year and a half."

"We talked for hours that night, and I told mom time after time after time, if being gay were something that could be cured, don't you think that I would be straight by now? We've prayed, we've gone to therapy, I've done electroshock, and every other trick and treatment under the sun, but nothing has worked. I told her, I'm miserable and all I know is that for the simple fact that I love differently than you do, I think that a good option for me would be to kill myself because I feel like and I'm treated less than human by the people that I thought would love me unconditionally." While Kelly continues the story of her long, strange trip, Solidad looks to the doorway to find Kelly's mother there holding her stomach. Before Sonya goes inside the kitchen, she listens to the remainder of Kelly's conversation with Solidad.

"Hours passed, and I think I finally broke my mother, and we shed so many tears that night. She said she never realized that I wanted to commit suicide, and she apologized for all the names she called me and the hurt she put me through. I told her that just saying 'you're sorry' can't repair almost two years of pain, two years of psychotic medications, two years of embarrassment and degradation in group therapy, and two years of…conditional love. She promised that she'd work every day to get her daughter back, because having a daughter who just happened to be gay was better than having no daughter at all."

"It took a while with dad, but he came around, too. We went to PFLAG meetings together, we did legitimate family therapy, and overall, we just talked more. We talked more frankly about our experiences over those two years or so, and…they deserve a lot of credit. We all took things day by day, and even though my mom and dad don't live together anymore, I can honestly say that both my mom and my dad love and accept me for who I am, however…"

"There's a however?" Solidad questions.

Kelly takes a few deep breaths while right behind her, Sonya listens very attentively, and Kelly admits, "While my parents and I now get along and I can forgive what happened in the past, I still can't forget those ugly things that my parents said about me. No matter what I do, the fact is they called me those horrible names much like all of the kids in my fifth grade class. I don't think I'll ever forget how badly I felt because of them. I took my dad's gun, had pen and paper ready to write down my suicide note, and the gun was loaded. It hurt so much that I didn't want to be here anymore, but thank God that that's no longer the case."

"Oh, Kelly," a blubbering voice that doesn't belong to Solidad emits. Kelly turns around to find her mother with tears in her eyes as she listened to her daughter's unofficial confession.

Getting up from their seats, Kelly and Solidad get a closer look at Sonya, and Sonya brings Kelly in for a strong and firm embrace. While in the embrace, Sonya tells Kelly, "You're here now, and because of that, it's not too late to make things right."

Once she lets go, Solidad leads her to a seat at the table, and Kelly asks her mother how long she has been listening to her conversation, to which Sonya honestly answers, "From the time you broke me, and the night you planned to end it all. I don't know how many more times I can say that I'm sorry, Kelly. I'm so, so sorry that your father and I put you through all of that. I can't take it back, so saying that I'd take it back is irrelevant, but if it's _any_ consolation, we were ignorant to think that we or anybody else here on earth could change you when it's true that gay or not, we love you just the way you are, Kelly."

Sonya now clenches her stomach once more as she continues to speak. "There is one more thing that we can continue to do to make things…better for us overall. Every day is an opportunity for all of us to start anew with God and with family. We're blessed to be here in the land of the living, and for many other reasons, too." Taking her daughter's hand, Sonya looks at her directly into the eye, explaining, "Kelly, you went to bed really early last night, so I didn't get the chance to tell you the good news. The reason why I was in the hospital was minor, at best. I had a fever and some nausea, but in all honesty…I have to take real good care of myself for the next several months because…" Sonya stops to flash a big smile to her daughter. "I'm not just taking care of myself, Kelly. I'm three months pregnant with your new brother or sister."

The news threw Kelly for a loop, to say the very least. "What?" is all she could muster out of her mouth as she fainted, falling out of her seat and onto the tile floor. As Solidad and Sonya look down at the purple haired girl, Sonya admits to Solidad, "She took that better than I thought she would."

* * *

"How do you know they're gonna say 'yes', Brock?"

"Because with my father's support or the support of the city, they can't say 'no', James," Brock responds as the pair makes their way into Pewter City's city limits. A thousand thoughts are going through Brock's head as for the first time in nearly three years, he makes his way back home to see his father, Flint, mother Lola, current gym leader and oldest brother Forrest, along with his many other brothers and sisters. They know the reason why Brock has not come home in such a long time, but what they don't know is that Brock is planning to come back home to help out someone in need.

James, who has been walking with Brock for the past several hours and has barely gotten a wink of sleep since arriving to Pewter has had more than a few choice words to describe Brock's mentality as they continue on their trek. Although he has discussed wanting to go to work in a legitimate business since leaving jail after his conviction and his desire to not rest on the laurels of his rich parents for any reason whatsoever, he felt that going this route would be a huge mistake for him and Brock.

Ever since meeting each other in prison, the two have been virtually inseparable, going everywhere with each other since they were both released less than two months ago. Had you told either of them that they would be together years ago, both of them would have likely laughed in your face, but their story is quite a unique one to say the least.

After Ash wrapped up business with the Johto region's Frontier Brains, Brock decided to leave his friend once and for all and seriously work towards building and maintaining his own. The one person in his several years of traveling that he felt knew the most about the craft was Suzie of the Kanto region, the same woman who gave Brock his Vulpix many years back.

When Brock went back to Suzie to become an apprentice in order to help him in obtaining his prerequisite to become the owner of his own breeding center, they also began a romantic relationship, which caught Brock off guard, as he had no previous luck with the ladies in the past. It gave Brock a great deal of confidence to know that he was finally able to have a steady girlfriend and at the same time work to make the life he always dreamed of come true. But as quickly as everything seemed to come together for him, everything fell apart just as fast and in one giant heap.

One day while tending to the day to day operations of Suzie's shop, Brock assisted a flirtatious female customer with some pokemon potions. What started as playful flirting on both parts became quite heated as the customer, who Brock later found out was named Mallory, began to kiss him and grope him on his numerous erogenous zones. Brock was scared and surprised all at the same time, but the affection shown by this girl that would often be considered 'easy' by the religious right had a way of intoxicating him like fine wine and making him lose whatever inhibitions he carried.

Although everything that he did at that very moment would be considered cheating in the eyes of many, Brock still decided to push his limits by grabbing Mallory's backside, which warranted a slap from Mallory, and her screaming sexual harassment. Due to the lawsuit, Brock lost his job as an apprentice, and his relationship with Suzie when she found out exactly what Brock and Mallory did.

Brock went to court, but because of his great disdain towards Mallory, he became too willing to get Mallory to tell the truth, and broke several court ordered rules by talking to Mallory over the phone and violating a court ordered restraining order by going to her house while she was home. This, along with strong testimony suggesting that Brock threatened her over the phone one time was enough for the judge to sentence Brock on a violation of a restraining order, misdemeanor sexual harassment, and making violent threats over telephone landlines. Combined, the sentences would total eight years in prison, however, all but two of those years in the sentence were suspended.

While in prison, Brock decided that women were far too much trouble to deal with or understand, so he chose not to be with anyone for a while, until he found James. Apparently, James spent time in the same prison for a combination of weapons and breaking and entering charges. Getting to talk to each other for the first time as true friends, they found that they had a lot in common. Understanding each other more, James opened up to Brock about being gay, which Brock always wondered about James. Not long before both were released from prison did they decide to become a couple, which is a decision that neither party regrets, although James feels some added apprehension to Brock's plan once the two finally make it to the door of the Pewter City gym.

Brock opens the door to the gym, and when he does, he walks in the direction of the head office to find his father talking on the phone with someone. Knocking on the office door, Brock gets his father's attention enough to make him tell the person on the phone to call the office back. Flint, not meaning anything by it, slams the receiver back onto the phone, stands up, and gets a look at his son.

"Brock," he affectionately admires with a tear in his eye.

"Father," Brock says, with a similar amount of emotion behind his voice. Finally, a few seconds later, the inevitable happens as both father and son come together in a hug as James watches from the sidelines. Flint and Lola have followed their son's case for quite a while and know that he is not entirely to blame for the incident involving Mallory, but not about what happened to Brock during his sentence.

"How are you feeling, son?" Flint desperately wants to know.

"I'm fine," Brock answers, as he releases the embrace that he and his father shared for nearly a minute. "I know that it will take a while to earn respect here and elsewhere, but believe me, I'm willing to work for it, and that includes working at the place where it all began for me."

"Son," Flint assures, "I know that you didn't do all those awful things that that woman claims you did to her. I don't know if she was looking for money or trying to—whatever she tried to do at your expense to make me or anyone else lose respect for you failed. You and the people you love will always have a loving and caring home so long as the Pewter City gym is standing."

James warmly smiles to Flint as he makes his statement, and it's enough for Brock to explain his main reason for being in Pewter City. Brock breaks down the fact that while in prison, he fell in love with James, and "James and I would like nothing more than to get a fresh start where I started. So, I want James to work in some capacity in the Pewter City gym, with your support, of course."

A voice from the office doorway questions, "Are you kidding me?" which prompts Brock, Flint and James to turn around to find the gym leader of Pewter City and Brock's oldest sibling, Forrest.

"Haven't you already soiled this family's reputation enough with your selfish antics and erratic libido?" Forrest questions of Brock. "And know you think that you can just waltz into _my_ gym and throw out commands like a ventriloquist throwing his voice? It doesn't work that way, Brock." Now eye to eye with Brock, Forrest states, "You're an embarrassment to this family and the family name." Now turning his attention to James, Forrest continues, "And it seems like you couldn't take the embarrassment alone, so you found this stooge to keep you company."

"Hey!" James exclaims growing very perturbed of Forrest's hateful words directed towards him and Brock. "I don't care what you think of me, it doesn't give you the right to say those awful things about me because of what you might have heard about Brock. I know what happened because he told me, and quite frankly, I think that what that woman did qualifies as extortion. Brock…at that time his emotions were out of control, but he's grown up uhh…"

"Forrest," Brock clarifies for James.

"Brock has grown up over the past couple of years, Forrest," James explains. "He's not even thought of a woman since he's been with me."

"He hasn't thought of being with a woman," Forrest remarks smart-alecky, "because you look like you could pass for one yourself."

James is angered to no end by Forrest's remark and forces himself directly in front of his face, telling him to come get some and find out just how much of a woman he really is. Before anything gets too out of hand, Flint steps in between James and Forrest and tells them that this matter does not need to be settled by way of fisticuffs.

"Your brother is here, whether you like it or not, Forrest," Flint adds. "And whether you like it or not, both you and Brock have an equal share of the stock in this gym. Both of you control 20 percent of the Pewter City gym apiece. 29 percent of control belongs to the city, and finally, there is the 31 percent that I control. With that in mind, I along with either of you two have a majority stake in this gym and its decision making process."

Flint pats Brock on the shoulder and then continues, "I have nothing but the utmost confidence in my son and his partner to carry out whatever responsibilities in this gym that they may tend to. They came here looking for work and a place where they can be respected, and I'll be sure to make that happen, because even if he is a convicted felon, he's still my son. And because my 31 percent stake in the gym along with Brock's 20 percent stake makes up a clear majority of decision power, we hereby grant a provisional position of employment to his boyfriend, James."

Forrest does not appear to be affected in the least bit by his father's declaration. "Fine," he sullenly remarks. "If that's the way you want it, then this gym will be short of a leader," and then Forrest turns to go to his private office.

"Forrest," Flint consoles, "You don't mean that…"

Forrest then sharply turns around and yells, "Yes I do, dad! How the hell can you take their side over mine? You know what? Whatever. You can give him the job for now, but none of it will matter. I'm going to Celadon City first thing Monday morning to contest this. And either he goes, or I go." Now pointing his right index finger at his older brother, Forrest declares, "I'll be damned if you and your faggot friend are going to sully our good reputation anymore. Don't you think you've done enough already?" Forrest then walks away from the conversation exclaiming, "My brother came back gay. Makes me wanna fucking puke," as he walks inside of his office and locks himself inside.

James controls his temper by taking several deep breaths, but can't help but remark, "Who put the stick up his fucking ass, Brock?"

Though wholly inappropriate, Brock attempts to help the situation by saying, "Well, whoever it was, it certainly wasn't a guy."

"Hey," Flint scolds, even though he's holding back laughter. "Look, you two. Forrest…things haven't been that great for him since Brock's conviction, but I know he'll come around, eventually. He's stubborn and hard-headed like his dad, but family always will come first for him. In due time, this ship will be righted, but…not without some long, serious talking from both sides, which is what we really should be doing now with the rest of the family. Come on, Brock, and you too, James. If we hurry, we can make it back for breakfast." James is elated about eating a home cooked breakfast for the first time in ages, and to do it with the rest of Brock's family no less, but Brock is somewhat apprehensive, asking his father, "What about Forrest, Dad?"

It really is a good question, and enough to make the father of a large family think. After a second, he decides to leave Forrest be for now in the hopes that the time alone will allow him to calm himself and consider his actions and his words. Very quickly, James agrees with the family patriarch, and walks up to them as they head for the house and the small refectory that is their kitchen during a family meal.

* * *

Walking out of the shower, Max Maple is elated and invigorated as he looks forward to this Friday. Most kids his age look forward to Fridays due to the weekend to follow and because of school, but Max has his own reasons for anticipating Friday evening rolling by. Due to some investigating on his part, Max was able to find out that his sister and her boyfriend plan to have their first time together tonight at six o'clock. If Max is to have his way, May won't even make it to the front door of the hotel.

As he leaves his room to get dressed, he can't help but feel excited knowing what he literally tripped over Thursday night. It was the ultimate in smoking guns, and he knows that once he presents it to May, she'll have no choice but to crack. Once Max is dressed, he leaves absolutely nothing to chance as he closes the door behind him, and opens one of his empty drawers to find the object in question. He cringes as he observes the obscenely large plastic model about eight or ten inches in length, and colored a hot pink with two heads on both sides.

While figuring out just how to present his evidence to May, Max hears his cell phone ring. The caller ID on the top of the phone shows him that Misty is giving him a call. Shutting the drawer containing the evidence, Max flips the phone open and greets Misty, who greets him back, but also says, "Listen, Max. There's something very important that I have to tell you."

"That's funny," Max interrupts, "because there's something important that I have to tell you. I finally have the solution to nabbing Kelly and May, and I can get it done by tonight."

"Max, we can't worry about them now!" Misty defends, as her voice starts to rise. "We have our own problems!"

"If we don't blow open this affair sooner than later," Max explains, "then you and I are both going down, and we become as much a part of this problem as Kelly and May!"

"Max!" Misty screams on the other end of the line, "Fuck Kelly and May! Fuck them both! They're not our problem! What goes on between them is_ their_ problem, and it will be Drew's problem sooner than later, but what about _our_ problems? What about Misty and Max's problems?"

"What problems?" Max desperately inquires.

'Here goes,' Misty thinks, preparing herself to drop a Hiroshima-sized bomb on her boyfriend. Misty takes a deep breath, and somberly answers, "Max…I'm pregnant."

The younger male could have been knocked down by a summer's breeze upon hearing about his and Misty's problems. He couldn't believe it, but that goes without saying. He had to make sure that he wasn't hearing things.

"You're…you're pregnant?" he asks above a whisper, to which Misty answers and confirms his fear. Apparently, ever since the first night that the pair has had unprotected sex during the night of the spring carnival, the two had apparently conceived a child to be. As Max thinks about it further, it really starts to sink in. The fact is that at the age of sixteen or seventeen, depending on how far along Misty is, Max will become a father. May didn't matter, Kelly didn't matter, Drew didn't matter, and nothing else in this world mattered besides the fact that he has a baby on the way. Then, the realization hits Max, as he also knows that it will be very difficult, in fact, impossible, to keep his relationship with Misty a secret for long. He will eventually have to tell his mom, dad and sister that he is romantically involved with Misty and has been for well over a year.

In a fit of shame and despair, Max puts his head in his hand and speaks into the receiver the words 'Oh my God,' as if it were a mantra. "What are we gonna do, Misty?"

"Max!" his mother Caroline calls out, while knocking on his door, "it's breakfast time!"

The conversation between the two will have to come to a premature end, as Max's mother calls him, and apparently the rest of the family, including Drew, to breakfast. Max tells his mother he'll be there in a minute, and tells Misty, "My mom just called me to breakfast. As soon as we're done, I'll find a place away from them to talk about this with you. Sound good?"

"Yeah, that fine," Misty assures. "We'll talk later. Bye now."

"Bye-bye." As Max hangs up the phone, he knows more than anyone else that his actions have changed life as he knows it for him forever, so long as his parents don't decide to kill him when they hear this news.

* * *

"Excuse me? Excuse me, young man?" asks a teen male in a blue, black and gray uniform with the letter 'V' emblazoned in various places. The teen, named Andre along with an older girl named Wendy and a younger girl named Mika stumbled upon a boy about Andre's age sleeping on the side of the wall of their place of work.

As Andre shakes him in an effort to wake him up, Andre surprisingly notices the dog tag that he's wearing around his neck. As the young male comes to, Andre whispers in the ear of Wendy and tells her that he is wearing the Avenue Five dog tag.

Once he rubs his eyes, the boy gets a good look at the people around him and stands up. Hesitant, but nevertheless determined to reach his ultimate goal of vengeance, he introduces himself to the other operatives. "Good morning. I'm Kenny Dalton, and…I called this office yesterday. They told me that I could get an exemption from my parole officer if I stopped over here by Friday."

"You were in prison?" Andre asks Kenny, wanting to hear more of his story before going inside.

"For two years," Kenny confirms, "and I should've had someone come right along with me, but she lied to the jury."

"What did you go to prison for?" asks the youngest operative, Mika.

"Drug possession, including narcotics, street drugs, and steroids," Kenny explains. "Someone squealed on a night we planned a sale, and I ended up taking the fall, even though I had an accomplice. I got two years, and she got off scot-free for testifying against me. In fact, I hear that most of her friends and family don't even know she went to trial due to a gag order protecting all of the parties that were involved. So you can tell that I want revenge."

A few moments of silence pass before Andre asks Kenny, "You say your name is Dalton, eh?"

"Yes sir," Kenny reiterates as a sign of respect.

"Well," Andre speaks convinced that Kenny is a legitimate member of Avenue Five, "Let me just say it's a pleasure to have you back as part of the family," and then he brings out his right hand, which Kenny shakes without apprehension. Andre then leads Wendy, Mika and Kenny to the door, walking side by side with Kenny, telling him that he'll get him situated, and take care of all of his paperwork as well.

As the two young gentleman make their way to the receptionist's desk, Andre whispers in Kenny's ear, "With my help Kenny, we'll nab this girl's ass faster than you can say 'drug bust'. Nobody double crosses a member of Avenue Five without having to deal with the rest of the family. So what do you say?"

More confident than in the past two years, Kenny tells Andre, "I say let's get to work…brother!"

* * *

A/N: So let's break down this chapter, for goodness's sake. Two pregnancies, one happy (in more ways than one) police officer, one new employee at the Pewter City gym, the story of a Christian lesbian's childhood, one teenage father to be, a pissed off gym leader and a confident crime operative comes home. Oh, and this is the only chapter in the story so far that does not feature Zoey. Yeah, that about covers everything!

I know a lot of people were looking to see if Zoey and Dawn can make it through their problems, and believe me, you'll find out next chapter. Also, the next chapter has more of Ash Ketchum's comatose thoughts; the Baker's appear for the first time, more of Kelly's story, and…just much, much more!

Until next time my loyal fans, don't forget to read and review! See ya for chapter 16!


	16. Vacation: Caught Red Headed

A Confession Gone Awry

Dawn takes a walk on the boardwalk prior to sunrise and she thinks about her exchange with Zoey late Thursday night. She comes to the conclusion that she was too hard on Zoey, and walked out on her when things got tough. While on the boardwalk, she meets her ex-boyfriend Paul, who is living out as a gay man, and now training to be a police officer. Paul thanks Dawn for helping him break out of his shell and be honest with himself.

Kelly talks candidly with Solidad about her childhood, including being a closet lesbian while in school, coming out to her folks, her constant struggle with her homosexuality and her faith, losing her virginity to Solidad, and reconciling with her folks. After this conversation, Kelly learns to her shock that her mother is going to have a baby in six months. She's so shocked, that she faints.

Brock and James go to the Pewter City gym and are warmly welcomed by Brock's father, Flint. Brock has come back to get him and James positions in the gym's day to day operations. Because Brock and Forrest control equal amounts of the stock in the Pewter gym, Flint approves it, but the Pewter gym leader and Brock's brother Forrest does not approve of it or Brock's relationship with James. In fact, Forrest plans to go to Celadon city Monday morning to fight the decision.

While Max ponders just how to crack his sister May, he gets a call from Misty telling him that she is no more than two months pregnant due to the fact that the couple started having unprotected sex the night of the spring carnival (please refer to chapter 11 and a clever hint in chapter 13). And Kenny is awaken by three Avenue Five operatives, who recognize his dog tag, hear the reason why he went to jail, and bring him inside so he can be reintroduced to 'the family'.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 16- Vacation Part 9: Caught Red Headed)

* * *

It is a real party of five at the kitchen table as Norman, Caroline, May, Max and Drew sit down to another one of Caroline's four star breakfasts. While Drew, Norman and Caroline healthily eat their fair share of pancakes, turkey bacon, chunky applesauce, jelly filled rice balls and fresh fruit cocktail, May and Max have trouble making a dent into their respective plates, albeit for different reasons.

May knows that tonight, Drew expects her to be at the Petalburg Palace for what is supposed to be the night that both of them lose their virginities to each other. The obvious problem that exists in this situation is that May Maple is not a virgin, and has not been a virgin for quite some time due to her affairs. She fears that if she is going to go through what Drew talked about Thursday night, then he might find out the hard way that the title of being May's first has already been claimed by another. While she initially supported the idea of being with Drew to see if her feelings for him would be accentuated or not through lovemaking, the more she thought about Drew's plans, the less she liked them.

"You know, it's a shame that Kelly couldn't be here another day or so," Norman laments to May's surprise. "You see, Drew? Max? That's the kind of girl that we need more of in this world, just like May. That's the kind of girl that you'd want to bring home to family. She's got morals and values, and she's respectable to her elders. I mean, what more could you ask for in a person?"

While Drew nods in agreement with Norman and chews a few more pancakes dripping with syrup, Max hesitantly tells his father, "Yeah. We do need to be more aware of those people, however few and far between they might be." Max doesn't dare group Kelly or his sister into that rare fray of individuals that Norman has alluded to, knowing all that he knows. As Max pokes at his breakfast, he admits that due to his current affairs, he could care less about the problems that his sister and her girlfriend are facing and will face sooner than later. For those out there that say that a baby changes everything in a person's life, Max must concur wholeheartedly. Even though the 16 year old has known that he will become a father for less than fifteen minutes, he'll admit that it has changed the way he looks at everything in his life.

At one time, Max wanted to become a pokemon league champion in any of the major regions, but for someone that has a child on the way, that is patently unrealistic given the intense amount of travel that is required of pokemon trainers to earn the minimum of eight badges. His son or daughter will need his full and undivided attention 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as he or she grows and matures. And once again, the inevitable resurfaces in the mind of young Max Maple. 'Mom, Dad and May will have to know about this eventually,' he thinks while scraping a piece of turkey bacon across a part of his plate containing an excess amount of syrup.

"Max, honey?" Caroline remarks from across the table, "You haven't even touched your breakfast since sitting down. Are you feeling alright, dear?"

The simplest of questions almost makes Caroline's young son cry, but before he can tear up, he asks, "May I please be excused?"

"Of course, Max," Caroline answers, allowing her son to have his space. Max walks out of the kitchen into the living room. The other members of Max's family don't think too much about it, but Drew, who has always suspected something…off about Max, examines his movements closely until he gets out of his sight.

"I'll talk to him a little later," Norman declares. "He really sounded like something has upset him, and I want to get to the bottom of it."

"Good idea," Drew agrees as he finishes off the last of his orange juice, takes his dish, silverware and cup to the sink, and thanks Caroline for preparing the wonderful breakfast as he sits back down.

"You're quite welcome, Drew," Caroline responds.

Watching the way that Drew looks back at May and vice versa, curiosity takes over Norman and causes him to ask almost out of the blue, "So, May? Drew? What do you two lovebirds have planned for this Friday?"

May and Drew can't answer Norman because from the other room, a voice screams "OH MY GOD!" as Max comes back into the room screaming to everyone in the room, "Some bastard out there hurt Ash Ketchum!" This causes everyone at the table to draw their eyes to the youngest person in the kitchen and May to gasp in surprise knowing that her hit has become worldwide knowledge. "I just saw his mom on the television. She was talking about how he was essentially bludgeoned by some object in the face and in the back of the neck. What monster could've done something like this?"

Her eyes and her mouth are both wide opened, but no one in the kitchen really pays close attention to May's reaction to the news concerning Ash Ketchum as they are all in an equal amount of shock. Then, like a river flowing with strong current, May realizes that the doctors of Ash Ketchum have pinpointed his injuries to the exact same places that May focused upon during her planned assault. Paranoia begins to set in the mind of the pokemon coordinator and award winning bodybuilder as she wonders if she has done everything that she possibly could in the circumstances.

Indeed she wanted to make sure that Ash Ketchum ended up dead and not in a coma because if he is in a coma, he is likely to wake up and produce a story that would incriminate her, and cause her to perhaps stand trial in a court of law. May knew that she had to finish her business quickly for fear of being caught yesterday, but apparently, she did not do enough, and if Ash pulls through, it will cost her dearly.

With her head down, May starts to tear up as the possibility of facing a long jail sentence looms in her head like sugar plums during Christmas Eve. 'It wasn't supposed to be this way,' May thinks sorrowfully. 'The trainer was supposed to die.'

The idea of all her hard work being for naught is too much for May to bear in front of her boyfriend and relatives. After all, she doesn't want to risk blowing her cover in light of how they all love and respect Ash Ketchum. Without uttering a single word, May gets up from her chair and runs to her room with apparent tears in her eyes. Running after May is Drew, who finds his girlfriend scrunched up in a ball and crying on her bedroom pillow.

Acting quickly, Drew attempts to wrap his arms around May, but due to her enormous muscular girth, he finds it difficult to give her a full embrace. May pushes Drew away, signaling to him that she doesn't want to be hugged. Drew decides silently to take another approach. As Drew explains to May, "I know that you spent a long time with him traveling through Hoenn and Kanto, so you might find hearing this news difficult, but we all feel bad for what happened to Ash, May. I feel like crying myself, but at the same time, I know that we have some power to change this for the better. All we can do at this point is pray for his health and the doctors that are caring for him," but May literally shrugs off the comment, though not a single word comes out of her mouth.

"Remember Drew," May speaks through tears, "I said all of those cruel things about him, about…Ash." Speaking the name of 'the trainer' for the first time in a while, it didn't seem to roll off the tongue as much as it slipped and fell from the roof of her mouth. "I was angry. I said all of those things out of anger, and…Max even told me that he sent a text message to Ash explaining that hearing his comments on Monday led me to my panic attack, so…the fact that I haven't talked to him since then…I don't want him to think even in his state that I ever wanted anything bad to happen to him."

May is finding it hard to dig up redeeming qualities about Ash Ketchum to lie about, and in her thoughts is pressing Drew to say something so that she no longer has to lie about the trainer. "You know," Drew states, "There_ is_ something else that we can do. If you feel that you need to clear your conscience and apologize to Ash for saying what you said, we can go see him in Pallet Town."

May literally is not able to breathe at this very moment. Did Drew actually suggest to her that it would be a good idea for her to go see the trainer in person and tell him that she was sorry for calling a spade a spade? Did he say that it was important for her to have a clear conscience? 'Banish the thought of that,' May cynically jokes in her thoughts. To clear her entire conscience would require an army of maids and servants on their hands and knees scrubbing all the way down to the bone, and even then, you would still have a skeleton remaining.

"Are you serious?" May asks, making sure that she doesn't show her distaste with the idea.

"Yeah, I am," Drew speaks softly. "In fact, I think that all of us should go to Pallet and see him." Lowering his voice even further, Drew also adds, "I think that knowing what we know now, it would be wholly inappropriate to go through with our…plans for this evening, but no worries. I mean, it didn't cross my mind until this morning, but we can always save it for Sunday."

"Sunday," May questions in bewilderment. "What's so special about Sunday?"

Drew can't believe that those words actually came out of May's mouth. "What's so special about Sunday? Only the most beautiful woman I know has her twentieth birthday on June 10th, that's what!"

After a quick check of her wall calendar, May clearly sees a note of 'May turns 20' on the box for June 10th. As she turns back to Drew, she defends her forgetfulness by explaining, "With everything that's happened over the past week, I must have forgotten about my birthday. We can do that, and as far as seeing…Ash…I wanna see him, too, and I want to know more about his condition. Hopefully, the prognosis shows something…positive." May will never let anyone around her know that to her, something positive would mean that Ash Ketchum would just go away for good.

Drew smiles back at May, saying, "I couldn't agree more. So, why don't we tell your folks about our plan and try to get in touch with Mrs. Ketchum to arrange the meeting."

* * *

"I implore anyone out there in the world with a conscience and those who have been touched in any way, shape, or form by my son over his extensive thirteen year career as a pokemon trainer to just keep praying for him in his time of need," Delia courageously states in front of a microphone and numerous television cameras. Delia knows more than anyone else the reach of the media and their constant search for updates on any story down to the very second. The thing that surprised her most was the fact that the media did not get to the hospital sooner, but as she made her way back home last night, she like Brock and James before her, was immediately bombarded by reporters.

As she made her way to the hospital early on this Friday morning, Delia was prodded by the many media outlets to talk to them and give them an update on her son's condition and her opinion on the attack. Knowing that they would not take no for an answer, Delia arranged time with the many outlets and spoke to them at eight o'clock this morning. "My son, Ashton Trenton Ketchum is more than just a pokemon trainer. My son is a forgiving individual, as he accepted his estranged father back into his life despite the fact that he has not lived the most puritan of lives and his admitted wrongdoings have affected my son for several years. My son is more than just a pokemon trainer. He is a fiancé, engaged to the woman standing next to me, Jessica Palmer. On the day that this horrific and obscene act took place, my son asked for this young woman's hand in marriage, and she _gladly _accepted. I have seen these two together for years and they love each other to…" Delia halts her speech for a moment, so that she does not say the word 'death'. Instead, she opts for saying the word, "pieces. They absolutely love each other to pieces."

"I know that most of you out there are going to ask and speculate, and with the permission of Ash's fiancée, I'll reveal it. Jessie was indeed a former member of the now defunct crime organization Team Rocket, however since then; the good in her heart has shined like a beacon to all of our friends and loved ones. All of those that were once skeptical about their relationship need only stay in the same room with them for 20 minutes at the most. They'll know what brings them together is something special that simply can't be faked."

For some reason or another, a television is inside Ash Ketchum's room, which remains situated in the Critical Care Unit. For another untold reason, this television is on and tuned into the Delia Ketchum press conference. As Delia continues to speak, Ash Ketchum's thoughts and senses are focused upon his mother's words. While he is comatose, he can still sense and hear people around him. He is just not able to respond. Right now, he can hear his mother talk about the relationship that he and Jessie share, and Ash can do nothing but agree with her.

While listening to his mother on the television bravely bear her soul to a worldwide audience, Ash thinks about the day where everything changed between him and Jessie.

"How do I know that you're not just up to your old tricks again, Jessie?" questions the 18 year old Ash Ketchum, who for the first time in his journey, has gone solo for any great length of time.

"You dense idiot!" Jessie yells back in frustration. "Don't you ever read the newspaper? If you did, you'd know that Team Rocket is dead! It got bought out by a gaming and casino company known as Avenue Five about two weeks ago. I have no reason to lie to you. All I'm saying is that I need to help get James out of there because it's nothing like we thought it would be. Team Rocket used powerful pokemon that they took for domination in the corporate and pokemon worlds. But what Avenue Five is doing is immoral and sick. _Anybody_ that loves their pokemon would not even associate themselves with those punks."

With his interest growing, Ash asks Jessie, "Okay, but over the past eight or nine years, you've tried to take my pikachu…"

"And that was the three of us _following orders_," Jessie admits, "but that doesn't mean that James, Meowth and I are bad. Look, the bottom line is that the Avenue Five organization is heavily involved in illegal drug trading. They use poached pokemon as trading material by first training them to be legitimately tough so that they can fetch a high price."

Upon hearing all of this, Ash gasps in shock and anger at the thought of pokemon actually being a part of the underground drug trade. Ash has always had a problem with people (specifically trainers) that did not treat pokemon like you would treat any other human being. In other words, any person involved in some way with pokemon that Ash believed did not treat their pokemon with the utmost respect would expect to hear from Ash Ketchum sooner than later.

"You do realize," Ash questions, "that what you're saying sounds absolutely despicable, right? You're telling me that there are so-called people that are using pokemon as collateral for drugs? How come I haven't heard anything about this until now?"

"Avenue Five is like the mafia, twerp," Jessie explains, "and all of the operatives inside that organization are brainwashed to believe that they are not_ like_ family, but _are_ family. And much like the mafia that you would see in movies and television, the idea is the same; nobody comes in and nobody goes out. That scared me, and I decided that I wouldn't be a part of it, because I could end up dead for some…bullshit. I didn't buy into their philosophy whatsoever, so once I heard about the purchase, I bailed. I just didn't want to do this and I asked James to come with me. I asked him to forget about a life of crime and forget about wanting to nab your pikachu and everything we've done over the past several years, because none of it is worth your life, as I explained to him."

"James was confused during the time I tried to convince him to bail," Jessie emphasizes. "He wanted…a purpose in his life beyond just mooching from his folks and marrying a girl that he just doesn't love. He didn't want the reputation of being a freeloader and living off his billionaire parents no matter what. He—he just despises it, because he didn't earn any of that wealth. He'd be more satisfied making just thirty-five thousand dollars a year like any other nine-to-fiver as opposed to having the world be his oyster with a multi-billion dollar trust fund to fall back on."

"I thought he was an idiot for turning down money and a sure thing so many times, but for the decade and a half that I've known him and for someone that has experienced his fair share of a life of crime, he's always had morals and values comparable to a man of the cloth. But above everything else in life, James wants a purpose. He wants something he can believe in and abide by. He wants something he can get up for every morning and look forward to, just like all of us. He believes that he found it in Avenue Five, but I feel that if he stays with that organization long enough, he'll find his future six feet under. These people are ruthless, uncaring and I'm begging you to help me get my friend out of there. Don't make your decision on what happened in the past, just worry about protecting the future of someone who's just gone astray."

Absorbing all of Jessie's information like a sponge, Ash can tell that she is very much concerned about her friend. Indeed Team Rocket is dead, so she has no reason to lie, and no reason to go after pikachu or any of his other pokemon. 'Maybe she is telling the truth,' Ash wonders, but not to the point that Jessie or anyone else can hear him.

"I don't know what it is inside of me," Ash explains to Jessie, while at the same time bringing out his right hand, "but something is telling me that I should trust you and help you get James back safely in his time of need. What do you say, Jessie? Will we get him back together?"

Wanting nothing more than to assure that her friend comes back to her and gets out of the gang of thugs in Avenue Five, Jessie shakes her former nemesis's hand, thereby sealing the pact that they share to ally for this one time only to help out a friend in need.

The memory of this moment, when things first started to change between Jessie and Ash, makes the comatose Ash smile inside. As he listens to his mother wrap up questions from the media and close her speech by reminding the media and anyone else watching to keep their prayers coming. 'Thank you, mom,' Ash wants to tell her, even though he is not in a position to do so.

* * *

"Are you sure this will work, Solidad?" asks Sonya, who shuts off the sink faucet. Since Sonya told Kelly that she was pregnant a few minutes ago, Kelly has not woken up from fainting. At first, it was more than chuckle worthy, but after a while, both Sonya and Solidad have started to show more than just passing concern. "I mean, it seems so…dramatic."

"It's the only other thing I can think of that doesn't involve leaving an imprint on her face. We've slapped her cheeks about 50 times, and she hasn't woken up. Mom and dad used to do this to me so that I would get up for school as a kid, and if it's good enough for me, then it's good enough for Kelly." Solidad defends as Sonya hands her a glass of lukewarm water about two thirds of the way full.

Aiming directly for Kelly's head, but making sure not to hit her nostrils, Solidad pours the contents of the glass onto the face of the girl she personally considers more than a crush. As Solidad expected, the water was enough to get Kelly out of her trance, up and awake, but not before screaming about the fact that she can't swim. After the momentary clamor from Kelly, she gets up from the floor, accepting a tea towel from Solidad, and she dries herself off. When Kelly gives the tea towel back to Solidad, she quickly wipes the linoleum floor dry.

After drying herself off, Kelly snickers for a moment, thinking about the dream that she just had. "Hey, Solidad. Mom. Both of you are really gonna get a kick out of this. You're not gonna believe the dream that I just had. We were—actually we were in this very room, and mom, believe it or not, you told me that you were pregnant and that you were three months along. Isn't that wild, mom?"

Sonya hesitantly laughs along with her daughter and explains to Kelly, "It's wild, because it's true, Kelly. I _am_ pregnant."

At this point, Kelly is no longer laughing. It turns out that her 'weird dream' was yet another case of the truth being much stranger than fiction. "But mom," Kelly questions, "I've been an only child for so long, and you're 52 years old! Are you sure you wanna go through with this again? And who's the father of the child?"

"Your father," Sonya answers, "is the father of this baby on the way. Even though we've had our difficulties in the past, we're still married to each other, and that was the second thing that I wanted to explain to you before you fainted. I wanted it to be a surprise, but since you know just about everything else there is to know about this child, it doesn't make any sense for me to hide it any further." Taking a hold of her daughter's shoulders, Sonya reveals to Kelly, finding it difficult to not smile while she says her news, "Your father and I are planning to reconcile. We've talked so much over the past few months since the trial separation. We're lonesome for each other, dear, and the only other thing that dad can talk about while away besides me is how much he misses…"

"Is how much he misses his 'Kelly-Belly,'" Kelly finishes for her mother with uproarious laughter. "So, that's one of the reasons I've seen you guys together so often these past couple of months. But…if it's not too personal, mom, would you mind telling me how it happened? How'd you get pregnant? I mean, I know _how_ you get pregnant, but…"

"I think I know what you mean, dear," Sonya assures, lightly shaking her head at he daughter's question. "Well, one night back around late February, I went over to your father's place. He was very miserable saying that separating with me was a mistake, among several other things, and I didn't want him to feel bad, so…one thing led to another, and the same thing that brought you, Solidad, your father and I into the world caused this blessed event."

Knowing that she won't get much more from her mother without embarrassing her or even herself, Kelly decides to no longer push the issue. "Okay, mom. You don't have to say anymore. It's fine because," Kelly starts to cry in a state of happiness, because for the first time in a while, Kelly has gotten some positive news that had nothing to do with business, and everything to do with her life as she knew it. She's so happy that she gives her mother a big hug, while still remembering to be careful with her stomach. "I'm so happy! We're gonna be one big happy family again!" Kelly excitedly states.

"You guys have _always_ been a family, Kelly," Solidad remarks, matter-of-factly, "Whether you were living together or not didn't make a difference as your folks are connected because of you. It's just going to be what you've always wanted since the separation with you, your mom and dad back together. It's like what your mother just said; this is the chance for all of you to start over."

Listening to Solidad's words, Kelly releases her embrace she shares with her mother, goes over to Solidad and tells her that she's right. "Oh, I know that I don't get this emotional that often," Kelly admits, "But this is _exactly_ what I've wanted for the past couple of years, and it's actually happening. I gotta tell May about this, come on, Solidad."

More than surprised to hear that Kelly wanted her to be nearby at the moment when she would talk with her lover on the phone, Solidad nevertheless agrees to walk with Kelly to her room, leaving Sonya alone in the kitchen.

Before she takes a seat at the kitchen table, Sonya, like her daughter before her, pours herself a glass of orange juice. While sitting down and alone at the table, Sonya sighs for a bit, before she ponders what she just heard her daughter say about wanting to tell May her good news. While Kelly has never been completely open about her many relationships with other girls over the past eight years or more, it has always been clear to Sonya that her daughter does indeed have one special girl in her life, and her name is May Maple.

Ever since she decided to completely accept her daughter as she is, she anticipated having to deal with several girls and young women coming in the house at a near constant basis, but in the time that Kelly began dating and going out with other girls, Sonya had only met enough girls that could be counted on one hand leaving a couple of fingers remaining, and one of them included May.

Sonya has absolutely no problem with May whatsoever, but given her faith and what it has taught her over the years, she can't realistically condone her daughter's behavior, knowing that May is already involved with someone else. Even if it means that Drew is no longer in the picture, she'd like nothing more than for Kelly to live a monogamous life, whether it be with May, or anyone she wants 'Lord,' Sonya begins in silent prayer, 'I love my daughter and so do you. I realize and accept that she and she alone will have to make an account of all of her actions with you on that fateful day, but while here on Earth, I can only pray that you may lead her in the direction that you see fit. Amen.'

* * *

"Come on. Come on in, Solie," Kelly presses as she opens the door to her room, letting Solidad in and then closing the door right behind her.

"You look like you can't wait to call May, huh?" Solidad apathetically questions.

"Nah, I love her, but she can wait. That was a red herring on my part so that I could get out of the way of mom for a few minutes. I actually wanted to get a few things off my chest that I couldn't do while my mother was in the same room with me. I swear if she knew about even half of the stuff I have been doing behind her back the past nine years, she'd flip. She and dad would both flip."

"So you weren't—I mean, just what did you want to get off your chest?"

"Things I've only shared with my parents, to an extent," Kelly responds. "It was—you reiterated what my mother said about how all of us can start over and start anew. The fact is that with my mother having a baby while over the age of 50, and my father getting back together with my mother, I want things to keep going in this direction. I don't want my past affecting the future that I'm gonna share with my new baby brother or sister. I don't want him or her growing up thinking that their older sister is a slut, and I don't want the new baby to think that I'm a home wrecker, either. If we're _really_ going to have a new start, and if this family is going to go by its word and start fresh, than that means that all of us have to start fresh, as well. I've gotta do better."

"Well, that's very noble of you, Kelly to say that it's time for you to do better and…I _suppose_ you could say grow up," Solidad sincerely emits, "But…what does that mean for the Dyke Clubs? What does starting anew mean as it pertains to your relationship with May? Have you thought any of that out at all? It's nice to say that you'd like to start over, but you still have a life in the here and now. There are people out there that listen when you talk, Kelly, and I still don't think you have even a remote idea of all the positive things that you've done with your underground organizations. Yeah, it's probably a good idea on your part to stop having sex with just about everyone that walks through the doors of the clubs, but you know more than anyone else that you're more than just your body, Kelly."

"I really think that if you want to do better like you say you do, that you first need to _legitimately_ start anew, and what I mean is that you need to get out of your comfort zone and come out of the closet once and for all." Kelly looks back at the older woman as if she just grew a second nose, and then she proceeds to vigorously say no to the idea of publicly coming out.

"In case you didn't notice, Solidad," Kelly informs, "We're inside of a multi-room mansion in the absolute best part of Lilycove City that money can buy. The reason I got all of this and millions in liquid wealth sitting in bank accounts that can double in value over the next decade has to do with me busting my ass and gaining a positive reputation in the _corporate_ world. How many of those suits—how many of those old ass white men do you think would legitimately get on board with my business knowing that I am what I am? Seriously, I'm asking you, Solie. How…fucking…many?"

Solidad has a hard time trying to find the correct words to say in this situation, but after a few seconds, answers Kelly's non-rhetorical question, "Hey, if they don't get on board with you just because you're a lesbian and you love differently than they do, then that's their loss."

Kelly scoffs before dismissing the comment as "Bullshit, and you know why? Because despite all of my under the table work, I live in the _real_ world where there is _real_ hate and disdain towards people like you and I, and even May to an extent. It was hard enough making my mark in the business world just by being a young woman. Imagine, just imagine…if I came out tomorrow? I'm not just coming out for myself, Solidad. There are hundreds, even thousands of people out there that work below me and work with me, and they depend on me to make sure that their positions and their futures are safe and secure. They are depending on Kelly Alicia Ambrose Mordetsky to make sure that their families have peace of mind, and compared to my fellow corporate fat cats, I actually give a shit about these people, and I even think of them as a part of my extended family. Coming out will be nothing short of a _nightmare_ for public relations and can drive down business not just for me, but for people that are counting on me to provide for them."

"But, Kelly! Think about it! I mean, really think about what you're saying," Solidad speaks, almost yelling at the purple haired lady. "You said that coming out will be a nightmare for public relations, but I really don't think so, and you can change that idealism by speaking out and saying your peace. You can turn what would be a PR negative into a positive by explaining and telling your story to the world. Hell, I just heard your story, and I, an out lesbian myself, am touched by it. The emotion that went behind it is powerful. It's enough to move mountains, Kelly."

"You say that you want me to imagine?" Solidad asks rhetorically. "Well, imagine if there are young boys and young girls out there somewhere between the ages of…I'll throw out when you knew at the age of 4 and going all the way up to adults that are faced with this dilemma that are going through exactly what you went through growing up. Imagine if they are confused or scared at the idea that they might by gay or bisexual. Imagine the confidence and assurance that they would get from hearing your story and hearing your struggle and how you fought for acceptance from your parents and your peers. Imagine how many other dignitaries in the world would consider you a role model for the community at large. Imagine if those kids that I mentioned earlier didn't have to live another day in fear of what people around them might have heard about them, or what they might say. And speaking of fighting, you said so yourself; you had to fight your way up and earn the respect of those suits and the acceptance of your parents. You've _always_ been a fighter, Kelly, ever since I've known you when you were a young toddler, you've been fighting, and the Kelly that I know and love wouldn't back down just because something just so happens to be a risk."

"Yeah," Kelly agrees, somewhat warming up to the idea, "But if I decide to come out, do I tell everyone everything?"

"What do you mean by 'everything'?" Solidad asks, not quite understanding what Kelly is saying.

Taking one moment to collect all of her thoughts, Kelly elaborates what she just told Solidad by explaining to her, "Do I need to go into great detail about the…Dyke Clubs and the number of girls I've had sex with over the years? Do I need to talk about being the other woman in the relationship of the number one rated couple in _Pokemon Coordinator's Weekly_ magazine three years in a row? Do I need to tell the whole world about that?"

"Honestly," Solidad frankly retorts, "You don't have to reveal anything that you don't want to, Kelly. I'm just saying that if you really want things to be different now then what they were, it's gonna require a big change on your part. Remember, one of the definitions of 'crazy' is doing the exact same thing several times and expecting a different result, meaning if you don't change, it won't show. Your parents are going to reconcile, so why wouldn't you want to be honest with everyone about yourself, and make a change that will help people out there instead of being so pigheaded and selfish?"

"You're calling me selfish, Solie?" Kelly asks, legitimately surprised.

"Yes, I am," Solidad defends. "I'll be the first to admit that you or anyone else living a so-called alternative lifestyle shouldn't have to deal with discrimination from people out there, but the first thing that _anyone_ can do to stop it is to talk about it. By not talking about it, it's just as worse as if you were outspoken and against it. So do yourself and many others out there a favor and just get it over with. I promise if you make that first step, the next several ones are much easier."

It's hard to determine when Kelly has been faced with such a dilemma in her life as this one. Perhaps she could go all the way back to the night she came out to her parents and the hell that came afterwards. But as she walks through everything that Solidad has told her in her mind, the older woman seems to make a lot of sense. If Kelly decides to never come out, she risks being found out by some seedy tabloid or other ruthless news organization that would only use her story and her lesbianism for profit.

If Kelly decides to come out, then the revelation will be made on her own terms. She will be the one that will choose what is revealed and what is kept secret, and all other questions that the media decides to ask her, she will be the one that will decide whether to answer them or not. The decision is really in her hands, and the more she thinks about it, the more Kelly is open to the idea of coming out of the closet. It's funny that Kelly dreaded ever seeing Solidad again after everything they've went through over the past eight years, because it turns out that she might actually help her in the greatest way possible.

"So?" Solidad desires to know, "Are you gonna through with it or what?"

Kelly nods her head with increasing frequency, before she tells Solidad, "Yes. I'll do it. I'll come out, Solie."

"You will?" Solidad asks in excitement.

"Yeah."

"Oh, I'm so happy for you, Cutie!" Solidad exclaims as her mood has clearly softened since a few minutes ago. Solidad is so excited that upon hearing Kelly say that she would come out again, she went to hug her, and squeezed her until it nearly hurt. While hugging Kelly, Solidad explains to her, "You realize how big of a step you're taking and how proud I am of you, don't you? One person can make a difference, and if there's anyone out there that I know can do it by coming out, I know it's you." As Solidad wraps up her congratulations for Kelly, she leans in to kiss her forehead, but Kelly spots her in the act and releases herself from the hug.

"Nice try, Solie, but a try, nevertheless. But while were here…there's one more thing I want to do. You, my mom and my dad made me realize that this was the way to go, so hear me out." Taking a deep breath before smiling, Kelly explains to Solidad, "I want to have a legit relationship with May. I want us to just be girlfriends again, like we wanted when we first got together. I don't want to share her with Drew or anyone else anymore. My days of fooling around are officially over, and from here on out I just want to be a monogamous woman."

Though hearing her name again has made her jealous combined with the fact that Kelly plans to fully reconcile with her own sexual partner, Solidad is happy for Kelly. "Well, out my own selfishness, I'll just say that I wish it was me that you'd want to be with, but nevertheless, I'm happy for you. You're really just—this new baby on the way looks like it's bringing out the best in you, and I like that."

"You're right," Kelly acquiesces.

"But if you don't mind," Solidad prods, "There is one more thing that I'd like to know. Because you always keep alluding and referring back to it, I'm curious as to just how many girls you've lied down with over the years."

"What?"

"I'm not asking you to tell the world, Kelly," Solidad defends, "But if you claim to want to start fresh, I want to work with you to help put your old life behind you and weed through all of the people you shared yourself with over the years. If I've learned anything over the years, it's that you can't do anything halfway in this world. People will see right through that. So if this is a new beginning for Kelly Mordetsky, then everything in the past has to not only be confronted, but everything has to be forgotten once and for all. We can…have a ceremony, too. We'll write down all the names and then burn them in the fireplace in the den, symbolizing your change for you and for your younger brother or sister."

To Kelly, it all sounds odd. The number of girls she has done business with over the years should be her business. It's not something she proudly displays like an 'A ' math test on her parent's refrigerator or an engagement ring to her closest girl friends. To her, it simply is what it is.

"I promise that no matter how many girls you've slept with, I won't judge you," Solidad assures, "But the fact is that you have to have some sort of representation of your change, and a confidential list that only you and I will know about is enough proof of your desire to change."

"Only you and I will see this list, Solie?"

"That's right," Solidad confidently answers.

Not knowing what has come over her whatsoever, but thinking it has to do with her ultimate goal to become a better person overall, Kelly tells Solidad that she'll write down the entire list of her lovers, but also warns her, "There are a lot of girls on this list. When I say 'a lot', I _mean_ a lot."

"I don't care," Solidad reiterates. "It's not about me, it's about you and wanting to change for this baby and change for the better. It may be painful for you to recollect on some of these names, but I guarantee you that you'll come out of this all the better for the experience. So when do you want to start, Kelly?"

* * *

As the daylight creeps into her room like a burglar creeping through the cold dead night, Zoey starts to become quite irritable while in her sleep. The fact is that the two time former Grand Festival champion was barely able to get in three hours of sleep last night, and with it now being morning, she knows that eventually, she will have to face her girlfriend, who aggressively showed her dislike for Zoey's latest secret. To Zoey, keeping things from Dawn became far more difficult and painful than she could have ever imagined.

'Is it really all worth it?' Zoey ponders while still in her sleep, but before another thought can enter her mind concerning her present situation; her thoughts and mind are jumbled as she feels someone pounce on her while she is still in her bed.

Forced out of her unconscious thoughts, Zoey quickly opens her eyes to find a sight that she would consider nothing short of the most beautiful thing in the whole wide world. Dawn, dressed in her gray sweat suit is pinning her on her shoulders while smiling widely in her direction.

Looking over her shoulder for a hot second, Zoey notices that it's about 9:15am, and that she was apparently too tired or frustrated to set the alarm clock and get up early Friday morning. As somewhat of a way of thanking Dawn for waking her up, Zoey quips, "Damn, how much for this alarm clock?" which warrants a playful slap from her blue haired belle. Afterwards, Dawn gets up from Zoey, allowing her to sit up, stretch and then sit back on the bed.

"So…" Zoey begins, not knowing any other way to start the inevitable conversation, "I assume that you're okay now?"

Balling her hand up into a fist and placing it in front of her mouth, Dawn breathes in and out two times, in a sign that she needs to collect her thoughts for a moment. While contemplating what she's about to say, she takes quick glances over in the direction of Zoey, before finally turning around to face her partner and saying, "I'm sorry, Zoey."

"No, Dawn," Zoey fires back. "_I'm_ the one who should be sorry. I should have been honest with you since the beginning about my mom's side of the family. You wouldn't have blown up like you did if I was honest."

Nearly bewildered by Zoey's desire to take the fall for their blowup early this morning, Dawn refers back to an incident that occurred between them earlier in the week. "Zoey, I'm sorry, but in my opinion, you have absolutely nothing that you need to apologize for. Remember back when we confronted my mother on Monday morning? Remember how she finally came around to the idea of us being together? She said that if we want everyone around us and everyone in the media to get off of our backs for being together, then we have to stick together, no matter what. That's if we really love each other, which is the case for me, and I'm damn sure is the case for you."

"I came into this thinking that we could just live and learn together and that would be fine, but that's just not the case. We have to deal with meddling family members, the bullshit from the homophobic media, but most of all, we have to deal with each other. I can be an asshole and a bitch a lot of times, and last night was an example of both of those sides coming into play. But the bottom line is I should not have walked out on you, Zoey, because the fact is that by walking out on you, I actually walked out on _us_." Taking a moment to think about what she has just said, she sheds a single tear before admitting, "If I walk out on this…minor problem, there's no telling what else I'll walk out on. I realized this when I took a long walk on the boardwalk earlier." Regaining her natural cheerfulness, Dawn then tests Zoey by saying "You'll never guess who I saw."

"Who'd you see?" Zoey asks with increased interest.

Dawn snickers before answering, "Paul. He's a police officer, now."

Zoey is surprised to learn this. "No way! I wondered what was up with him since he left pokemon training some years back. Is he still in the closet?"

"No," Dawn happily states. "In fact, ever since coming out and living open, he's been happier than ever. He's got a boyfriend and is really making his way up in the ranks. He told me that I have a lot to do with that."

"Speaking of which," Zoey states, regaining control of the conversation, "do you think that it would be better for us, because my mother's side of the family is coming in, like, a few hours or less, to just be honest to them about us? Like dad's side of the family, I'm sure they've been wondering about me. The Grand Festival is quite a popular event, and because I was in it, my family gave me the utmost support. And Dawn, when you think about it, not every Christian in the world is homophobic. Hell, look at Kelly! She's a Christian _and_ a lesbian!"

"Yeah," Dawn reluctantly admits, "But based on everything you've told me, Kelly is extreme in…"

Gritting her teeth for a moment, Zoey has to agree with her girlfriend. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. She is kind of the exception to the rule. But people respect honesty in other people more than anything else. No matter whom they are or what they believe, honesty remains the best policy."

Looking closely at Zoey, Dawn can see a lot of Paul's words and scrupulous attitude inside of her girlfriend. Both of them essentially have the same message to give to Dawn in that being honest with people can offset anything else placed in front of them. It really makes Dawn think to the point that she really made a mountain out of a molehill as it pertained to the Baker's.

Zoey views her girlfriend's expression with great scrutiny, trying to determine exactly what she is thinking at this particular moment. Not getting anything from her face, Zoey decides to just ask Dawn what's up. "What are you thinking, Dawn?"

Dawn raises her head up from her spree of thoughts to tell Zoey, "Good thoughts. Like those thoughts you think when nothing can knock you down from cloud nine. Like the thoughts you think when you feel like you can take on the world. That's what I'm thinking."

"Well, good for you, Dawn," Zoey compliments as she gets up from the bed and grabs her bathrobe. "But we don't need to take on the world just yet. For now, we'll just worry about my mom's family. I'll give you time to think about what you want to do and take a shower." Zoey walks to her bathroom, but before opening the door, she tells Dawn while holding back laughter, "Don't follow me in here, okay?"

Dawn wails out in laughter at Zoey's request before she gives the redhead the 'okay' symbol. Zoey then shuts the door behind her; including being sure to lock the deadbolt on the bathroom door in case Dawn tries something like she did on Tuesday night.

* * *

"Excuse me, Kenny?" asks a voice from the other end of the media center. Kenny, who is sitting at a computer and trying to get used to the technology that is at his fingertips turns around, and finds Andre from earlier that morning. Andre is carrying a medium sized uniform for Avenue Five operatives along with a couple of manila folders.

"Oh, hey. What's up, Andre?"

"Brother, I found your files on record," Andre answers, "And it looks like over the time you've been here with the family, you've been quite a busy young son. You may have only been with the family for one year or so, but you single handedly made this clan a ton of money. It's a shame what happened with Berlitz. Had that not happened, you could've been a father and teaching people what you've learned."

Standing up and walking to the point where he is face to face with Andre, Kenny takes his new uniform, and then makes a point clear by explaining to Andre, "I know how the family works, Andre. I have to earn my own keep and pull my own weight in order for me to get what I want from the family."

"But exactly what is it that you want, my brother?"

Kenny simply says, "Dawn," but goes into greater detail by adding, "But the fact is that I just did a 'Google News' search for Dawn Berlitz. Apparently, she is missing along with Zoey Neale, and ever since the most recent Grand Festival, no one has seen either of them, yet her mother Johanna claims that Dawn is okay, yet she _won't_ confirm or deny whether Dawn is with Zoey or not. Curious, I checked YouTube, and saw the Grand Festival for myself."

"All of it?"

"Just the semifinals and finals," Kenny clarifies. "I've been incarcerated, so I didn't get the chance to see or hear any news, but...it's hard not to notice something…_queer_ when you see your ex-girlfriend either kissing or being kissed by another girl on legitimate newspapers and periodicals laying around the office."

"So you're saying that," Andre doesn't know what to make of Kenny's freelance research, so he asks Kenny, "Brother, what the hell are you trying to say?"

"I think my ex-girlfriend has a new girlfriend in Zoey," Kenny says confidently. "Some might argue that it's a stretch to think that, but why the heck else would both of them be missing at the same time unless they were trying to escape a media barrage that comes with an announcement of this magnitude? So getting to Dawn will require some extra effort from me, but I'm willing to wait on this one. I waited two years behind iron bars, so what's another couple of days?"

"A couple of days?" Andre wonders out loud to Kenny.

"That's right."

"But brother, just what does this plan of yours entail?"

Kenny leaves for the media center exit and informs Andre, "I'm going to make some money with a couple of my old clients that I hope are still interested in some stuff, and then I'm going to personally see Dawn's mother to find out where her daughter is. And if she doesn't tell me, well…let's just say that I don't mind using force to get what I want. Later, brother," Kenny concludes as he leaves the media center for either a dressing room or a restroom so that he can change into his uniform. Andre looks at his compatriot with a great deal of interest before he leaves to tend training new Avenue Five operatives.

* * *

While a lot of her family has long since woken up and gone outside to enjoy the nice late spring morning, 17 year old Kristen Townes has elected to stay inside for a little bit and partake of some fresh fruit for an impromptu breakfast, as she got up too late to have breakfast with the rest of the family. She never minds meeting up with all of her family members from the Neale side and the Baker side of the family, but ever since she was young, she and her cousin Zoey have always seemed to clash. They may be family, but that's probably the only thing that the two have in common with each other.

From the outside looking in, one might be able to draw the correct conclusion that Zoey and Kristen are polar opposites in every way, shape and form. While Kristen enjoys participating in beauty pageants, shopping at the mall with her best friends, talking on the phone for many hours, being boy crazy and just about anything else that you would expect from a typical 21st Century teenage girl, Zoey has always preferred much more varied tastes. Along with the obvious love for pokemon coordinating, she likes more male-oriented outdoors activities such as fishing, camping, and even hunting trips with her father and her uncles. Zoey also has interests in fast cars and motorcycles, and can often be seen at auto shows as a guest of honor along with her Ferrari. Finally, lest no one out there forget that Zoey is gay.

All of those traits and interests would clue any observer into why Kristen and Zoey would not exactly see eye to eye on much, but one instance back when both of them were about seven or eight years old has snowballed over the past decade to form the dissent they have for each other now in their late teens. While it seems juvenile in nature, during a family reunion from long ago, Kristen, while brushing her hair and giving her girl cousins mini makeovers noticed that Zoey spent much of her time that day hanging out with her boy cousins, playing video games, soccer and whatever else they would do for fun. Later that day, Kristen got Zoey alone and told her that girls should hang out with girls and that boys should hang out with boys, and unless Zoey wanted to be called and treated like a boy, she should stop hanging out with boys.

Even as an elementary school girl, Zoey never took any nonsense from anybody. She always found Kristen to be spoiled, and told her directly to her face that she was spoiled and that whoever she wants to hang out with and be around is her business. Being called spoiled struck such a chord with eight year old Kristen so much so that she shoved Zoey to the ground, starting a fight between the two. Since that day, there has been absolutely no love loss between the two cousins separated in age by only two months, and with Zoey's announcement yesterday more or less confirming what she thought was true for many years, Kristen has even more ammunition to use against her cousin.

As Kristen takes a bite of a red delicious apple, she hears more than one pair of footsteps come down the stairs and to the main floor. Looking up from the bite marks in her apple, she sees two girls her age come down the staircase hand in hand. Sighing, she thinks to herself, 'Speak of the devil,' as she takes another bite of her apple, not even saying hello to Zoey or Dawn.

"Good morning, beauty queen," Zoey greets Kristen insincerely.

Kristen doesn't respond back to Zoey, only continuing to chew her apple and look around other parts of the kitchen as Dawn and Zoey sit down at the table themselves.

"You two aren't gonna do any of that gay stuff here while I'm at the table, are you?" Kristen asks seriously, "Because I'm eating right now…"

"Kristen," Zoey interrupts by pounding her right fist onto the kitchen table while steaming in anger, "Shut the fuck up, okay? You fucking smart ass. I'm beginning to think that you can't be happy for me no matter _what_ happens in my life, all because I told you I thought you were spoiled when I was seven! I fell in love, all right, and it just so happens that I fell in love with another girl. Why would people have a problem with that? We're not hurting anyone by being together. I mean, we all fall in love! I'm just doing what comes naturally!"

"Yeah, but not like this!" Kristen defends. "And how dare you say that what you and she are doing is natural. Screw that, Zoey! This isn't normal! You're supposed to find a nice…"

"Supposed to?" Zoey reiterates, even more ticked off than before. "I'm _supposed to_ find a guy? Is that what you're trying to tell me? Well Kristen, first of all you're not my damn mother so you don't tell me what the fuck I'm supposed to do or not supposed to do, okay? I'll make my own decisions whether you or anyone else likes it or not. And as far as that 'gay stuff' that you talked about is concerned, I'll have you know that I'd put my love and commitment with Dawn here over and above any of the fly-by-niters you've been involved with over the years, Kristen, so stop being such a fucking bigot about this, and show some goddamn respect for my girlfriend in _my_ house, please. She's done absolutely nothing to you or anyone else but be in love with me and she's been through enough as it is without having to deal with even more of my family not approving of us being a couple. If you don't have anything nice to say about us, then just shut the fuck up and leave us alone. You got that, beauty queen?"

Kristen looks up at her cousin and Zoey's girlfriend and decides that at this moment, she is fighting a losing battle. Heeding her cousin's advice, Kristen leaves the kitchen with half of a bitten apple and an unpeeled banana without saying a single word to either of them.

As Kristen heads for the front door, Zoey exclaims, "I love her, but _God!_ She can be such an ignorant bitch!"

"Sound like someone else you know?" Dawn comments subdued.

Zoey elaborates to Dawn, "You can't compare to Kristen no matter how much you argue to the contrary. Yes, I know you'll be the first to admit that you can be a bitch at times, but I'm no saint. I'm guilty of that, as well." With her head down for a moment, Zoey leans over to the welcoming embrace of her girlfriend.

"Don't let her get you down, Zoey," Dawn consoles. "Honestly, I feel bad for Kristen, because she may never get to know love like what we have together."

"Like what?" Zoey inquires, acting as if she didn't know the answer.

Dawn answers, "Like this," and then proceeds to kiss Zoey on the mouth.

Both of them keep their hold on each other for quite a while, and they incorporate their own unique brand of foreplay, with Zoey fondling Dawn's butt and Dawn focusing much of her attention on Zoey's waist and lower to middle back. While kissing, it's clear that Zoey and Dawn are both in their own world where no one else can disturb them in their moment.

"Zoey Domenica Neale!" a voice screams out in disgust. Sharply turning around, Dawn sees an unfamiliar face, but Zoey immediately recognizes the person.

"Aunt Sienna!" Zoey exclaims.

As this woman named Sienna Baker-Drake moves closer to her niece, she asks Zoey, "What the hell are you…" but then she stops herself when she realizes that the girl next to Zoey looks a lot like the girl from Sunday's Grand Festival. "I should have known, Zoey. I didn't want to say anything about it because I thought it might upset you or your mother, but I suppose looking at all the evidence, it _is_ true. You _are_ a queer."

"Hey!" Dawn speaks, "Don't talk to her like that! She's your niece!"

Sienna points her finger in the direction of Dawn, and implores her to, "Stay out of this, you!" Now with her attention focused on Zoey, Sienna declares, "I'm telling your mother about this…"

"Too late, Aunt Sienna," Zoey explains, trying to hold back her anger for the second time in just the last five minutes. "She and my dad already know, and they've known for almost four years. No offense, but_that's_ why I didn't want to tell you or any of my mom's family about this, because I knew how you guys would react."

"You think I'm supposed to be jumping over flaming hoops because you're a dyke?"

"Stop calling me names, Aunt Sienna!" Zoey screams out of frustration than anger. "I'm sick and tired of hiding from you and the rest of mom's family. Just because you don't agree with what I do doesn't give you the right to be so nasty. And no, I didn't expect you to be jumping for joy, but the least you could do is support me in my decision."

"I'm sorry," Sienna apologizes, "But no. I can't support…this. I don't know what the hell has gotten into you, young lady, but I'm gonna find out." Leaving the room and heading for the front door, Sienna screams out the word, "Sick!" before closing the door behind her and making her way to the back portion of the house.

Watching this entire scene take place from a nearby window, Rocky and Corey see their Aunt Sienna react negatively to Zoey and Dawn's relationship, and are inspired to keep up their good work.

"I told you telling Aunt Sienna to go into the house would be a good idea after Kristen left the house," Corey brags to his older sister.

"And you were right," Rocky admits, with pleasure. "Now take what we've just seen with Aunt Sienna and multiply it by…fifty or more. How can Zoey and Dawn take the heat?"

"They won't," Corey informs Rocky, "So round two goes to us, Rock," and the two shake each other's hand once again renewing their pact to break up light and life.

* * *

A/N: Okay, folks. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the next chapter begins the reunion mini-arc. The bad news is that unfortunately, this story is on hiatus for the remainder of February. Don't fret, though. Come March, Rave will be back with the family reunion chapters.

Remember that the name 'Dawn' means light or first light, and the name 'Zoey' means life.

Also in chapter 16, Kelly goes through all of her former lovers with Solidad, Max finally gets to talk to Misty, as he finds some time to do it outside of the hospital while the Maple family and Drew see Ash. Also, Forrest gets his mother's (Lola) opinion of James and Brock and finds out that it's him against everyone else.

All this and more in chapter 17 of 'A Confession Gone Awry'! See you in a month!


	17. Reunion: 325

A Confession Gone Awry

May and Max ponder their own problems at the breakfast table with Drew and their parents. It is there that they all learn about the assault on Ash Ketchum. May is so distraught, she runs to her room, followed by Drew, who suggests that the whole family see Ash in his time of need.

Delia Ketchum speaks to the media asking for everyone to keep praying for her son. While still in a coma, a television inside of Ash's room is on the speech, and the words of his mother make Ash recollect on the time when things between him and Jessie began to improve for the better, when Ash and Jessie agreed to help get James out of Avenue Five.

Kelly wakes up from her fainting spell and talks to Solidad alone. Kelly tells Solidad that she wants to do better by her parents (who are reconciling), by her unborn brother or sister, and most of all, by herself. Solidad suggests coming out of the closet, which she agrees to, but Solidad also wants Kelly to reveal all the people she has had sex with, as well.

Kenny diligently works to find information pertaining to the whereabouts of Dawn, and vows to see Johanna personally and ask her where Dawn is. Zoey and Dawn reconcile their differences and decide to deal with the Baker's together, no matter what. Later on, they meet up with Zoey's cousin Kristen, who makes very derogatory remarks about her cousin and her girlfriend. Not that long afterward after Kristen has left the house, Zoey's Aunt Sienna catches Zoey making out with Dawn. What the couple doesn't know is that Rocky and Corey asked Sienna to go into the house after seeing Kristen leave the house in disgust.

WARNING: This is by far the longest chapter of the series so far at over 22,000 words, but for your consideration, this story has SEVERAL page breaks if you can't read all of this in one sitting.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 17- Reunion Part 1: 325)

* * *

It has not even been five seconds since Zoey's Aunt Sienna Baker-Drake left the house. Since Sienna slammed the door behind her, Zoey has been left just looking at the doorway. She hasn't even turned around to face her girlfriend since this walk out.

"Uhh, Zoey," Dawn begins, not really knowing what to say after what just occurred in the room, "Are you alright?"

"What did I do?" Zoey asks with her voice shaking, still not turning around to face her girlfriend.

Dawn, thinking that she understands what Zoey is asking her answers carefully, "Zoey, you didn't do anything wrong…except be in love."

"No," Zoey responds, remaining in her position facing away from Dawn. After two seconds, Zoey finally turns around to face Dawn, with tears running down her face as if they were two leaky faucets. Acting quickly, Dawn runs over to her girlfriend, wrapping her tightly in an embrace.

"Calm down, Zoey," Dawn speaks softly to the redhead. Speaking in her ear, Dawn reassures Zoey, "Listen to me. Listen to me, Zoey. You did _nothing_ wrong. You knew that not everyone would be on board with this, but you and I decided to go through with it because we chose to not let them beat us. We chose not to live in fear of keeping this a secret. We did nothing wrong, and _you _did nothing wrong, Zoey. It's just that your aunt doesn't agree with it. Hell, we're together, and we don't agree on everything."

"I know, but something tells me that I did something very wrong just now," Zoey sobs in her speech. "That's my aunt, and I love her, even if she did say those awful things about me and called me names. She's family, and mom and dad have always told me you don't cross family, no matter what."

"Yeah," Dawn agrees quickly, "But that doesn't mean that you did something wrong, Zoey, and that doesn't mean that you can't stand your guard and defend yourself. Your aunt just needs some time to think about this. She's most likely been taught to behave a certain way to certain people. The bottom line is that no one deserves to be called those names. Again, I'm not trying to excuse what your aunt said to you because that was wrong, but she's stuck in her ways, and…while neither of us could prepare for your aunt walking in on us, imagine what she must have thought when she saw the two of us here. It most likely shocked her to see her niece kissing another girl on Sunday and just a few minutes ago. I know it would've shocked me to see a girl cousin, a niece, daughter or what have you kissing someone of the same sex."

"Dawn, with all due respect," Zoey retorts, "You don't know my family. Aunt Sienna will use any and every excuse in the book to justify me getting publicly ridiculed for being openly gay. That's why I was so shocked to see her, because of all the other relatives; she is the one that is the most…actively against homosexuality. She was the last person that I would have wanted to know about this. She can be…quite stubborn. God, I'm so fucking tired of this crap, Dawn! It seems that everyday is a fight for us!"

"Well, I'm also tired of having to face off against her and everyone else, for that matter," Dawn soothes, rocking Zoey back and forth while she is in her arms. "But haven't you noticed that just about every turn we take, we have someone that's trying to make our lives a living hell? Whether they just don't like us as a couple, are using religion as an excuse or they have a crush on either of us, we've faced obstacles. Sure, it gets annoying after a while, but I'm assured that because we've gone through all of the challenges for now, I'm still with you for some good reason. I'm not sure what it is, but a lesser person would have been gone by this point."

Zoey, who has cheered up some since Dawn began her embrace, adds to the discussion, "Could it be that you just love me and nothing can stand in between the way of that?"

"You know," Dawn answers, "The more I'm with you, the more I begin to think that that's the case." Dawn uses her thumb to get the tears out of her girlfriend's face, and then gives her a few kisses, once again assuring Zoey by gently holding both cheeks of her face, "Your aunt is just one person…"

"Wait a minute, Dawn," Zoey interrupts as she looks over to the near window on the main floor of the house. "Sorry, but I think I saw someone near that window over there," and Zoey points to the window in question.

Once Zoey points to the window, Rocky and Corey, who have remained at the window since Corey prompted his aunt to go inside the house, start to get nervous, especially when their sister makes her way to the window.

Zoey doesn't even go halfway to the window before he sees two figures run away from the glass. Recognizing a tall young woman with straight, rust brown hair and a smaller male with curly red hair and glasses, Zoey becomes absolutely irate. She knows exactly who these two people are, and cannot believe that they would stoop so low as to keep her from her pursuit of happiness.

Clenching her fists and shaking as if an eruption is about to take place inside of her body, the fiery tomboy is trying her best, but failing to keep her anger in check. Off to the side, Dawn notices that Zoey not only didn't go to the window, but she didn't mention just who if anyone was spying on the two through the glass.

"Uh, Zoey," Dawn says, breaking the ice in the process. Dawn doesn't get the chance to add anything to her initial two words, as Zoey runs to the front door of the house, opens the door, and runs to the front yard, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"How can you honestly condone this…behavior, Jo?"

Jo-Jo, while sitting with her husband, his sister Anita, and several other second generation family members listen to Sienna speak, and are quite bewildered with all that she is saying. More than one time, Sienna questioned the parenting skills of her older sister, and Adman knows that his sister in law has hit a chord with not just his wife, but himself, as well.

"Sienna," Jo-Jo calmly states after sighing once again, "It's hard, but Zoey has to make her own decisions. I'm her mother, and I know that everything that I do from now until the time she is living out on her own making her own choices is gonna affect the rest of her life. I could have decided to kick her out of the house when she told me that she's a lesbian—let me finish, please," Jo-Jo defends as Sienna was about to open her mouth up to speak again.

"All I can do for the short time that I have her is give her all the love that's in my heart. If her being happy means that she is in romantic relationships with other girls, then so be it. I won't love her any more or any less because of it. She's becoming her own woman, and…"

"Rocky!" Zoey screams, causing her mother to stop speaking. "Corey!" she yells. "Get your butts out here, now! Stop hiding, and come out here now!"

The tone of her daughter's voice concerns Jo-Jo, who stands up and asks, "Zoey, what's wrong? What happened?"

Hearing the sound of her mother's voice, Zoey turns to Jo-Jo with very apparent tears in her eyes, but after looking towards the direction of her mom for less than three seconds, Zoey runs to the other side of the property continuing her search for her brother and sister. Concerned for their children's welfare, both Jo-Jo and Adman get up from the lawn chairs and run after Zoey.

Though she is winded, Zoey doesn't let it show as she makes her way to the extensive backyard of the house. Running past Aunts and Uncles from both sides of the family, Zoey finally finds Rocky talking with her cousin Macey Baker about something. Before the two of them can see Zoey off in the distance, Zoey stops in her tracks.

Taking a moment to catch her breath before confronting her older sister face to face, Zoey calmly walks up to Rocky and Macey, and says hello to her cousin, who is one year Rocky's junior.

"Hey Zoey," the dance choreographer responds. "How are you doing?"

Zoey allows only the slight indication of a smile to escape her mouth before she tells Macey that she's doing fine, she also asks Macey, "Would you mind terribly if I stole Rocky from you for a moment, Mace?"

"Oh, no problem!" Macey cheerfully delivers. "Besides, Rocky and I can talk later about the talent show. I'll see what Tyler and Tyson are doing." Right before Macey walks away from Zoey, she whispers in her ear, because she doesn't know how the other relatives near her will take it, 'By the way, I saw Berlitz earlier, and I want you to know that I have no problem with…you know. Besides, it's your life.'

"Thank you," Zoey answers laconically to her cousin as she leaves to see the Ty twins. Now turning her attention to her sister, Zoey commands Rocky to, "Come with me. We need to talk."

Clearly seeing the fire in her younger sister's eyes, Rocky doesn't say any words and instead opts to just follow Zoey inside the house. Rocky is not crazy enough to think that Zoey came to talk about outfits for another activity that will take place during the reunion in the fashion show, and once they make their way to a secluded area of the house in the gymnasium, Zoey requests that Rocky have a seat.

Turning her glaze away from Rocky for a moment, Zoey plainly asks Rocky, "What the hell is your problem, Rocky? I don't ask for much, but the one thing that I do want…why do you and Corey have to screw with it so much? Why can't you just let us be, Rocky?"

Trying to play off of her sister's words, Rocky tells Zoey, "I have had no idea what you're talking about…" but Zoey snaps knowing that her sister is clearly lying right to her face.

Zoey grabs her older sister by her shirt, brings her right in front of her face and irks, "Cut the fucking bullshit, Rocky! I saw you and Corey near the window. You were spying on us, and I have a feeling that either he or you sent Aunt Sienna into the house while Dawn and I were kissing. It's too obvious on both ends." Zoey for the second time tears up, this time, in front of her sister's face. "Why do you feel like you have to do this, Rocky? Fuck, it's hard enough for me having to deal with strangers not approving of Dawn and me, and for some of my family, but why you? Why my own sister? I mean, we used to be so close when we were young." Holding up her index and middle fingers in front of Rocky, Zoey crosses them to explain to her sister, "We were like this, Rocky! And then…it all seemed to change when I decided to come out of the closet. What happened between us, Rocky? Is it me? I'm sorry, but I can't help who I'm attracted to. I just don't see it in guys like you do."

Rocky is shaking in Zoey's grasp. It's very obvious that she's scared what her sister could do to her in anger, but for another different reason, Rocky is quite nervous due to the fact that Zoey talked about their childhood. Indeed, the two of them were as close as sisters could get during that time. But as they grew, things began to take a turn for the worse. Rocky always felt that in her own mind, she was different compared to other girls her age, especially during the time of adolescence. Rocky decided to hide these feelings and just went along living her life on her terms. She, like most teen girls her age at the time, dated, but nothing ever came of it, and ever since then, she has chosen the route of a career woman by becoming a reporter.

During this time, Zoey came of age and experienced puberty much like Rocky did. Rocky was always close by during this time, and noticed that her sister went through much of the same things that she did. In fact, one day when she compared pictures of herself and Zoey, she couldn't tell the difference between the two. For a while, Rocky believed that the similar paths that she and Zoey followed were merely coincidental, until the day when Zoey told her family that she was gay. From that day forth, although the two love each other very much, they have always had a clear and obvious disconnect with each other. In Rocky's mind, she just saw too much of herself in Zoey, and it got to the point where she despised the similarities between them.

"Answer me, Rocky!" Zoey screams into her sister's face while still keeping a strong hold on her shirt. "What happened to us?"

"Us, Zoey?" Rocky responds. "There isn't an 'us' anymore. There never has been an 'us', and there never will be an 'us', not unless you _really_ want people angry at you."

"What the hell are you talking about, Rocky?"

It was clear to the 24 year old that her subtlety would cause Zoey to want to further investigate her feelings. Rocky is caught in a virtual bind with near inches separating her and her sister. She swore to herself that no one else in the world would ever know about this, but Zoey won't let her out of her sight unless she gets answers out of Rocky.

"Zoey," a voice from outside of the gymnasium speaks, and no sooner is the younger sister's name spoken does Dawn come into the gym and see Zoey holding Rocky down by her shirt. "What—what happened? What's going on here, Zoey?"

Zoey is not able to answer her girlfriend because right behind Dawn coming into the workout room are Rocky and Zoey's parents, Jo-Jo and Adman, who would've come sooner had they known that Zoey went back into the house.

"Zoey," Adman exclaims, "We've been looking everywhere for you! What's wrong, and why are you on top of Rocky like that?"

Letting go of her hold on her sister, Zoey goes up to her parents, still fuming in anger, and explains, "Rocky and Corey are two rotten jerks. I was in the house not that long ago, when I saw Aunt Sienna, who came into the house and caught me kissing Dawn. She reacted terribly, calling me names, saying that I was sick…"

"Whoa!" Jo-Jo interjects. "Hold on! Aunt Sienna called you names?"

Zoey nods, and elaborates, "She called me a dyke and a queer, mom." Jo-Jo shakes her head in fervent disapproval of her younger sister's behavior, but then realizes that there is another piece to the puzzle that hasn't been explored.

"What does that have to do with Rocky, Zoey?"

Zoey, who looks at Rocky with great disdain, informs her mother, "Rocky…and Corey, I'm pretty sure sent her into the house knowing how she'd react to seeing me like that." Turning to Dawn, she further concludes, "They were the ones who were spying on us," and now turning to Rocky, she states, "and you can't deny it either, Rocky. I saw you running from the window when I was walking towards it!"

"Wait a minute," Dawn exclaims, becoming ticked off much like her girlfriend with Rocky Neale. "You set us up, knowing how your Aunt would react?" Dawn charges her way towards Rocky, in a near repeat of Tuesday morning's car drive to the Seafoam Islands. It's a 'near' repeat though, because Zoey stands in between Rocky and Dawn, holding her fuming girlfriend back.

"Settle down, Dawn. Come on," Zoey restrains, while holding back her own anger.

"Zoey," Adman moderates, "take Dawn out of here. Your mother and I will deal with Rocky. I don't care if you have to leave the property to get her to cool down, but I don't want any more blowups from this point forward."

Zoey says nothing, instead escorting her girlfriend out of the room while she screams out several obscenities directed towards Rocky. After nearly half a minute, Dawn is out of ear sight, leaving Jo-Jo and Adman in the room with their oldest daughter. Rocky seems to shrink in the face of very cross looks from both her mother and father.

"Rebecca Rochelle Neale," Adman states sternly, "I am _very_ disappointed in you, young lady. You're no child, so why in the world are you acting like one? Breaking up relationships because you don't like or prefer them is childish, immature and just plain wrong. And what's worse? You're setting a _terrible_ example for your younger brother! Honestly, what kind of an older sister are you, Rocky? You're pretty much saying to Corey that if you don't like someone's love life, you can change it to your advantage. That's not your business…so stay out of it, and leave my daughter, _your sister_ and her girlfriend alone."

"That's not what I…"

"Quiet, Rocky!" Jo-Jo loudly interjects, not really interested in hearing whatever explanation she may have. "Your word doesn't mean much right now. And speaking of words, I need to talk to my sister about her words, and then all seven of us need to have a family meeting, ASAP. If you'll excuse me, Adman, I'd like to handle this issue with Sienna right now, but if you can round up Corey, K.C., Mikey and Zoey in this room, we'll meet and talk about this together after I put my sister in her place."

Leaving for the door of the gym, Jo-Jo is stopped when Adman asks his wife, "Do we include—now I'm going to make this your call because I know you'll make the right decision, but…do we include Dawn in this family meeting?"

That question from her husband throws Jo-Jo off guard. Dawn Berlitz is by no means a part of the family by blood, but much of what will be talked about in the meeting will have to do with Dawn. Jo-Jo would like to have Dawn in the meeting to discuss conduct on her part to make the reunion go smoothly, but she's is not completely certain if an open forum with her jealous son and angered daughter is the best idea.

Jo-Jo finally decides, "We'll wait until everyone is here, then I'll make my decision as far as Dawn is concerned, okay hon?"

Adman answers, "No problem," giving his wife a hug prior to her leaving the weight room and confronting her younger sister.

* * *

Closing the door behind her, Kelly enters her room to find Solidad on her bed with a legal pad and a pen. The opening of the door prompted Solidad to look up from her sketch drawings of two women at the altar preparing to be married, and her and Kelly sharing a kiss.

As Kelly breaks down to Solidad, "My mom is heading to one of her classes for the afternoon and then, she and dad are going to go over the plans for their second honeymoon on my Scottsdale, Arizona property in the United States, so we'll have the house essentially to ourselves for the rest of the day to do this."

"Great," Solidad tells Kelly, further elaborating, "So there really shouldn't be any distractions during something like this. Now Kelly, before we get started, it's important that you be honest above everything else. Before we're done here, I have to have the names of every single person that you've shared yourself with over the years. I don't care if it was good or bad. All I want to know is who. Do you understand?"

Taking in a couple of deep breaths, Kelly answers, "I understand, Solie, but like I said, this is a long list."

"Again," Solidad reiterates, "I don't care. Now let's get started. Now, we can get the obvious ones out of the way in me and May, so that would give us two names so far," and Solidad writes her name first next to the number one and May Maple's name right below hers with the number two next to that. "Now, who else is on this list?"

"Well," Kelly begins, not really knowing where to begin, "Okay, here are a few. I was with a former Team Rocket member named Cassidy about a year ago. And a long time ago, I invited a Pokemon Ranger in training by the name of…she had a name kind of like yours, Solie. What was it?" After a second, the name comes to her, and Kelly exclaims with a snap of her fingers, "Solana! That was her name. I was with a Pokemon Ranger named Solana. Then, oh! I also met this real nice girl named Brianna, who came through Hoenn a few times. I doubt that she was a lesbian or anything like that. I suppose she was just looking for a good time…or twenty."

Getting the names down as quickly as she can and trying to ignore any back story that comes with each of the names, Solidad recaps for Kelly. "So we have so far on this list five names. There is myself, May, Cassidy, Solana and Brianna. Is that correct, Kelly?"

"That's right," Kelly assures the older woman. "But like I told you, there's plenty more names left to cover on that list."

* * *

"But mom,"

"No buts, kids!" Sienna commands to her three children, 15 year old Greg, 11 year old Stephanie and 9 year old Tim, while the clan was away from the rest of the family. "I'm telling you all that if I catch you anywhere near those two, you will be punished. We cannot be like everyone else and just accept this, because it's not normal behavior, no matter what anyone tells you."

"Mom," Greg defends, "She's our cousin, and no matter what, Zoey will always be our cousin. And besides, we're here until Sunday night. Can you honestly expect us not to run into Zoey again from now until then?"

"I don't care _what_ you three do," Sienna states matter-of-factly, "My word is law, and you are forbidden from being near Zoey or her…girlfriend, or else."

"Sienna?" a voice from a distance calls out in the open. Hearing her name called, Sienna finds her older sister Jo-Jo walking up to her, looking very cross. "We need to talk…alone and preferably right now."

Having an idea of what her older sister wants to talk about, Sienna implores her children to, "Go on and have fun, kids. Your aunt and I need to have a talk together with no distractions." Listening to the tone of their mother's voice, Greg, Stephanie and Tim heed her words and go off into different directions, being careful not to run into Zoey or Dawn.

Still looking at her younger sister with a great deal of disbelief, Jo-Jo attempts to hold her anger in as long as she can, considering the circumstances. "Sienna," Jo-Jo begins, "You…you didn't go up to my daughter and say your peace like you told me you did. I just talked to Zoey, who told me that you called her things like queer and dyke, and you didn't apologize for it, either. All I have to ask you is who in the _hell_ do you think you are? Zoey hasn't done a damn thing to you, and my patience is running very low right now, and I'm trying to hold in my anger with you for my daughter. My goodness, I told her years back that strangers and people that didn't know her would treat her wrongly, but I would have at least—_at least_ expected family to stand behind Zoey and help her when she needs it the most."

"What she needs is a reality check, Josephine," Sienna responds, defending her actions.

"You don't think that she gets one?" Jo-Jo yells, having more than enough of her sister's ignorance towards her daughter. "You don't think that everyday she struggles with people calling her exactly what you called her earlier? Again, I ask you; what the hell has my daughter done to deserve you jumping down her throat?"

"You're the one that's making this personal, Jo-Jo," Sienna defends once again. "Zoey is the one who decided to lay down with girls, so…"

"Oh!" Jo-Jo exclaims, past the point of caring who hears what she has to say, "So my daughter is a slut now, huh? Is that what you're trying to tell me; because you used the words 'lay down' to describe what my daughter is doing with Dawn Berlitz, when nothing could be further from the truth. Both of them are virgins, and neither of them are interested in a sexual relationship having been together less than a week, so how in the hell can my daughter or her girlfriend be sluts, Sienna? Can you answer _that_ one for me?"

"Again, Jo, I beg of you to not forget our roots," Sienna rebuts. "Mom and Dad raised us in the Episcopalian church and they taught us better than that! They taught us through God and the church man…and woman together. Not man and man and certainly not woman and woman."

"And Mom and Dad _also _taught us to love people for who they are, and not who they love, which can also be found in the bible!" Jo-Jo interjects loudly, seemingly in an effort to jog her sister's memory. Now pointing a finger into Sienna's face, Jo-Jo continues, "My daughter is a wonderful person, lesbian or not, and I'm thankful to God for blessing me with her and all of my kids. What she need is my love, and she doesn't deserve to hear crap like that from _anyone_, much less her own damn family! And if you and your family expect to spend another minute on these grounds, Sienna, you _will_ apologize to Zoey for calling her those names! Zoey is not an adult, Sienna, and the fact is that if you have a problem with my child; you have a _big_ problem with me. Sienna, the bottom line is that we're sisters and I'll love you until the day I die, but forgive me if I think that you are absolutely full of crap!"

"What's going on here?" a male voice questions as he walks to the two sisters in a heated disagreement. This person is Sienna's husband Ivan Drake, and while talking with other relatives outside, he lost track of where his wife was. "Sienna? Jo? What's going on here?"

"There's no problem," Jo-Jo answers while remaining disturbingly calm, "Unless you and your family don't mind leaving right this instant."

"Wait, what?" Ivan inquires, not understanding what his sister-in-law is talking about.

"Your wife made some very derogatory remarks towards my daughter," Jo-Jo clarifies. "I'm not going to tolerate her calling my daughter and her niece a queer and a dyke."

"Sienna!" Ivan exclaims out of shock. "How could you? I don't care what you've heard or haven't heard about Zoey, that's not cool, and that's not right! That's not right at all!"

"If you were wondering, Ivan about the rumors," Jo-Jo informs, "Zoey _is_ gay. She told me that she and Dawn wanted to let everyone know and not leave people wondering or speculating taking away from what should be a good time for all of us."

Ivan can't believe what he's hearing. "Your own niece, Sienna? You called your own niece these things? Again, it's just not right, I don't care _who_ it is, okay? Don't you know that there are people that have been killed because they believed in some of those things you said?"

"She was flaunting her girlfriend in front of me when Rocky and Corey asked me to go into the house and say hi to Zoey," Sienna once again defends, even though she now appears to be fighting a losing battle. "She was in there kissing…Berlitz, and how they kissed looked very perverted and disgusting. Zoey grabbed Dawn's rear end and Lord knows what Dawn did with Zoey."

"Who cares, Sienna?" Ivan interjects. "They're in love! That's what people do who are in love with each other!" Now directing his comments toward Jo-Jo, Ivan states, "I'm sorry about this, Jo. I don't agree with what Sienna is saying in the least bit. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?"

Looking at her younger sister, Jo-Jo explains, "Your wife can apologize to my daughter right now. Either say 'You're sorry' to Zoey for calling her those names, or I'll have to ask you and your family to leave, because I'm not gonna tolerate _anybody_ with your age and maturity level doing that to _my_ child and getting away with it."

* * *

"And," Kelly continues as she and Solidad form the list, "I also got involved with these three sisters who I do business with. They grow numerous berries in the Hoenn region that my mother, father and I use to form pokeblock. There names were Natalie, Nicole and Rita."

Solidad has to clarify for purposes of the exercise. "So you had sex…"

"Yes," Kelly answers, "with all three of them." Sighing deeply, Solidad places the names of these three sisters at the bottom of a long line of names on the second page of her notepad.

"You know who Rita reminded me of?" Kelly asks, trying to make conversation.

"Who?"

* * *

"Zoey!" Dawn screams as Zoey pulls her into another room away from Rocky. "Let me go, Zoey! I'll tear them both limb from limb! Who the fuck do Rocky and Corey think they are?"

Sitting her down onto a bed, Zoey cautions Dawn to "Calm down, Dawn. Please, just calm down," and Zoey paces back and forth in this guest bedroom.

"Calm down, Zoey?" Dawn asks in bewilderment. "Calm down? Your sister and brother deliberately sought to break us up and you want me to fucking calm down? Why aren't you angry?"

Turning back to Dawn, Zoey screams back to her, "I _am_ angry!" to regain control of the conversation. "I am so…fucking pissed with Rocky and Corey right now…it makes me wanna just…I don't know, all right? I don't fucking know what do think. I just want to grab them and shake them both and ask them what the fuck their problem is, I swear!" As more tears start to come out of Zoey's eyes, stinging her face with more water, Zoey explains her anger by saying, "But I'm more pissed off at myself. I should have seen this coming. God, I should have seen this coming the night I told everyone that we were a couple. I thought that they would act like civilized people. I thought that they would get a clue, but apparently, I gave them too much damn credit."

Slumping down on the bed next to Dawn, Zoey covers her face and cries once again. Rubbing her girlfriend's back and trying to keep Zoey calm, the anger on the face of Dawn remains prevalent as thoughts of Rocky and Corey Neale make her sick to her stomach knowing that they would stoop so low as to sabotage as good a relationship as theirs.

Bringing Zoey close, Dawn realizes that while she does have a great reason to be angry, the realization of her sibling's actions serve as being more than enough to drive Zoey to the brink and beyond. In her head, Dawn vows, 'Nothing will keep me and you from what we love, Zoey. Not if I can help it.'

* * *

With a quick crossover maneuver buying her some time to move to the top of the key, Mikey Neale makes yet another one of her signature fade away shots, putting her up 19-3 in her second game of '21' against her Uncle Roger Neale and her fifth game overall. This fifth game appears to be following the same pattern of the previous four, all of which Mikey was the victor. For Mikey, arguably the best athlete in the entire family, this is no hard task for the girl, even though she has played nearly one whole hour of nonstop basketball. On the other hand, her uncle, who despite being quite the athlete himself, is having a difficult time keeping up with the future varsity jock. Long past the age of 50 and well past his peak in terms of pure athleticism, Roger finds himself in a difficult spot being soundly defeated by his niece, and knowing that the task was no fluke.

"Mikey," Roger pleads to his niece while he is clearly winded from the exertion, "Can we…can I please have a minute?"

"I don't know," Mikey replies, as she goes to the free throw line. "I just gave you a minute three minutes ago." As Roger passes the ball to his niece, Mikey continues, while dribbling the ball, "And besides," Mikey stops to make her free throw, now putting the score at 20-3. Getting the ball passed back to her by Roger, Mikey speaks once more. "You're getting a break just standing here in the key, aren't you?" Mikey leaves the question open-ended as she makes her second free throw, winning her fifth game of '21' with a score of 21-3.

"That's game!" Mikey declares as her Uncle Roger leaves the court, deciding to call it quits for now. Being passed the ball by Roger, Mikey asks the crowd of relatives lining the full length basketball court, "Who's next?"

"You know, Mikey," a voice from inside the throng of people speaks, "It doesn't take much to beat someone who is clearly on the downswing in terms of their athletic ability." The body belonging to the voice finally shows itself, and it belongs to Mikey's older cousin and fellow jock Tyson Neale. "But like I told you last night, I'd really like to try you one on one again."

Mikey arrogantly laughs and proceeds to forcibly pass the ball to Tyson's direction. Expecting it, Tyson palms the orange ball with both hands, laughing back at Mikey as he anticipates quite the game from his female cousin.

"Let's do this," Mikey states, but before they can officially begin their game, Mikey feels something on the right side of her thigh vibrate. It's her cell phone, and Mikey asks Tyson to hold on for a second as she takes the call. Opening the clam shell without checking the caller ID, Mikey greets the other person on the phone with a hello.

"Mikey?" the male voice on the other line speaks, and Mikey immediately recognizes it as her father's voice, "I'm gonna need you to stop whatever you're doing right now and come to the weight room. We're having a family meeting, and before you ask, it is mandatory. Do you understand?"

Taking her mouth away from the receiver, Mikey sighs in frustration. Apparently, her much anticipated game with Tyson would have to be put on hold for now. "Okay, sir. I'll be right there." Hanging up her phone, Mikey explains her situation to Tyson, and to her surprise, Tyson doesn't react to the news of an impromptu meeting negatively. "We can have our game later, Mike. I'll find someone else to practice with until then. Good luck with the meeting."

* * *

"There was also this girl named Katie who I went to school with," Kelly reveals. "She went to the Evergrande Conference some years ago and lost to Ash Ketchum."

"Was Katie one of the ones that you said you had a crush on back in grammar school?" Solidad asks out of curiosity. Kelly just nods, and Solidad places Katie's name on the growing list.

"She's not gay, she was just curious, but she did say that no one had ever eaten…" Kelly stops when she sees Solidad slash her throat several times; a sign of her not wanting to hear the rest of the story. "Say, do you think that we could take a break?"

Examining the list and seeing that she has gone through several sheets of notepad paper so far, Solidad decides, "A break would be good for both of us. Five minutes okay?"

"Yep," Kelly replies and she goes into the bathroom to turn on her cell phone.

Waiting a minute for the software in the portable device to load, Kelly does a couple of stretches, as she and Solidad have been sitting for the past several hours trying to format her list of former sexual partners. While strolling down memory lane has at times been fun and interesting, reliving through a few of them have been both physically and mentally exhausting for the multi-million dollar businesswoman.

Grabbing her phone that has been placed on the bathroom sink, Kelly presses some numbers on the touchpad, putting her on the line with May Maple's voicemail. Upon hearing the sound of the beep, Kelly says, "Hey. It's Kelly. Give me a call when you can. I have some…important news that I think you'll want to hear. Bye love."

"You alive in there, Kelly?" Solidad asks while rapping her fist against the bathroom door.

Two or three seconds later, Kelly opens the door. "Now you know that I got over ending it all years ago, Solie."

"And I'm glad," Solidad addendums. Turning serious, Solidad says, "Now let's get back to work."

* * *

"I just want to make sure that everyone in the band gets here on time for the practice at 10 o'clock tonight for mic check, and for the first song at midnight," says Kevin Neale while sitting with cousins Philip, Kendra, Marco and Erin. After a few seconds listening to the other voice on the line, K.C. voices, "Yeah, there should be about 300 or more relatives and friends here. We should get some good press if we can knock this performance out of the park. Jake? Hang on. Incoming call." K.C. talks to his father, who requests that he meet the rest of the family in the weight room like he did with Mikey. K.C. doesn't argue, and tells his cousins that he has to leave for now.

While K.C. is away, the fun between the remaining cousins begins as they think about tonight's upcoming concert. As Philip explains, "So we're gonna get another one of K.C.'s _Midnight Madness_ concerts tonight? Well, here's hoping that this year's one is just as great as last year if not greater, eh?"

"Here, here," Erin states, echoing the same sentiment. "I mean, who knew he had it in him to become a rocker?" Erin Townes's cousins all agree with her saying they had no idea that Kevin had this hidden talent. "Ever since we were little, he's always just been this introverted, shy kid that really didn't open up much if at all, but when he plays in his band, you can tell it's his passion. I'm not even that big a fan of rock music, but you can't help but be drawn in. I'll definitely be here later tonight for whatever they've got planned."

"Last year was a big surprise," Kendra adds. "K.C. always brings his friends to reunions, but to see him actually up on stage, when you couldn't even get him to read poetry in front of an audience of twenty throughout high school. It's great, and I love how the group is all about a positive message, as well."

"That's my favorite part of the band," Marco admits, now getting the opportunity to say his peace. "One of my favorite lyrics to their songs was _Yeah, school's out for summer/but the most brilliant minds ride on forever_. What's that about? Don't slack in your education; not just in school but in life. That's the stuff that we_ all_ need to hear, instead of the music that glorifies drugs, sex and violence."

"And of all the rock concerts I've been to," Marco continues, "I've never felt so invigorated after a show, and I've been to them all. The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam reunion, Van Halen, even Bon Jovi. K.C. and his band and his music just leaves you excited about life, and there are life lessons to be learned in the music. It really is music with a message. They sold CDs last year, and I bought 15 for friends to hear. Their MySpace is doing well, and so are their mp3 sales. I mean, the sky really is the limit for him and his band. Count me among those looking forward to tonight's show."

* * *

"And I also had sex with…"

"With?" Solidad questions of Kelly.

Kelly takes a second, and points to parts of her forehead before she admits to sexual encounters with "Flannery."

"The Lavaridge Town gym leader?"

"And…Clair," Kelly adds.

"The Blackthorn City gym leader?"

"And Erika, the Celadon City gym leader," Kelly concludes.

Solidad, for maybe the tenth or fortieth time (she has lost count) shakes her head softly in disapproval of the fervent activity of her longtime crush. Adding three more names to the list, Solidad has to use the next sheet of paper to continue the count.

* * *

At the behest of his eldest sister, Corey Neale decided to just act natural around friends and family when Rocky felt that she and him both got caught by Zoey spying on her and Dawn. Corey decided to just hang out with his of age cousins, like attorney-to-be Jerry Fineman.

The two haven't had much of a conversation as Jerry has been toying with a few functions on his internet phone. He's been doing this for several minutes, and like the cat itself, Corey is just a little bit curious. "Hey, Jerry. What are you looking at over there?"

"Porn."

"Really?" Corey asks with his interest peaked.

"No, pervert," Jerry jokes while laughing at his cousin of the same age leaving Corey embarrassed a crimson red. "I'm looking over some of the news stories about Ash Ketchum."

"Oh, yeah," Corey remembers. "That's a real sad and unfortunate story. Zoey got to know him quite well when their paths crossed in Sinnoh. Great guy and his mom is a fantastic cook."

"There are a couple of pieces to this puzzle that I think the members of law enforcement are neglecting for whatever reason," Jerry says, seemingly ignoring what Corey just told him. "It always helps crime scene investigators and law enforcement to look at the events that helped to shape a scenario rather than just looking at the scenario itself. Remember that Ash Ketchum called part of the Grand Festival. Ash Ketchum also made some arguably outlandish statements to the contrary of the unofficial results. Because of said comments, May Maple loses the Grand Festival and Dawn Berlitz wins it away from the field of battle."

Confused, Corey tells Jerry, "I'm still not following you, Jerry."

"With all the money, accolades, recognition and the like that comes to Grand Festival Champions, people will do just about anything to win. The winner's purse for this year was almost 1.5 million dollars. Compare that to when Dawn's mother Johanna won in 1986. She got less than five percent of that. Now, inflation does play a factor, but these days, coordinators are businesses and commodities in and of themselves. I mean, that's the reason why we're having the family reunion in this prime real estate in the islands. Zoey and Dawn are walking, living and breathing businesses."

"Now, I'm not trying to say that money is _the_ factor in this, but I won't rule it out as _a_ factor. All I'm saying is that if you worked much of your life for a goal and finally reached it, only to have it taken from you four days later through no fault of your own; wouldn't you be mad as hell? And consider the fact that not even four hours after the announcement was made, the hit was made on Ash. It takes somewhere between three to four hours to go from Petalburg City to Pallet Town." Jerry flashes Corey a disturbing smile before he declares to his cousin, "I think May did it. Every sign in the book points to her."

Corey can only whistle in response before he gets the same telephone call that his siblings have gotten. Corey decides to take this phone call away from Jerry, but not before he says to him, "You're a little bit weird, Jerry."

Jerry says to Corey with his signature smile, "Weird is good and strange is bad, cousin."

* * *

"There was also Liza of the Charicific Valley, and…another Liza, one half of the leaders of the Mossdeep Gym."

"Two 'Liza's'?" Solidad questions.

"Two Liza's," Kelly confirms.

Solidad answers "Okay," and places the two names into the notepad. "Next."

* * *

With Corey coming into the weight room, things become quite crowded as he joins his mother and father, his older brother and sisters, his Uncle Ivan and Aunt Sienna, his twin sister and surprisingly, Dawn Berlitz. Dawn and Zoey, along with Corey's parents have very cross looks on their faces, and he notices that just about all of them are directed towards him.

"Hey," Corey exclaims, "I thought that this was supposed to be a family meeting. Why's Dawn here?"

"Have a seat, Corey," Adman tells his son, purposely not answering his question. Noticing the tone of his voice, Corey decides to just do what his father tells him and sit down on the bench holding up a large weight. Once Corey has sat down, Adman goes over to the door and closes it leaving all ten people in the weight room alone with no distractions.

"Okay," Jo-Jo begins, "This meeting will now officially come to order. Now that everyone is here, I'm setting some ground rules right here and now. There will be absolutely no cursing, no name calling and no yelling from _anyone_. But the most important thing that all of you must follow is I know that some people are angry, and for good reason, but we will handle this as civilized people, or we won't handle it at all." Jo-Jo turns her head to her sister and says, "Sienna, I believe that you have something to say to Zoey, so say it…now."

Accepting her fate, Sienna walks up to her 16-year-old niece at the behest of her older sister. Looking Zoey directly in the eyes, Sienna says, "Zoey, I'm sorry for calling you a queer and a dyke. Even though I think homosexuality is wrong…"

"Sienna, you're done," Jo-Jo interjects. "You've apologized. You're done." Sienna looks at Zoey and then looks at her sister and decides not to push any more issues and goes back to standing next to her husband.

"I also want to tell you before we go any further," Ivan tells Jo-Jo, "that my kids _will_ be allowed to be around Zoey and Dawn. By no means will I go along with Sienna's…we're just not going to do that."

"Very well. Now on to more pressing issues," Adman tells the group. "Zoey claims that she saw Rocky and Corey at the window right after Sienna left the house. She also claims that both Rocky and Corey are conspiring to break up Zoey's relationship with Dawn. Are these things true?"

Looking towards each other almost as if they were in front of the principal of their school and in trouble for playing some sort of lewd prank, Rocky and Corey find themselves in quite the bind. All the evidence of sordid behavior on their parts points to them. From using one of their relatives as a pawn in their human game of chess, to the spying in the window, all the way down to running from the window to escape Zoey, nothing spoke to the integrity of this brother-sister combination, whatsoever.

"Yes," Corey speaks softly, knowing that he and Rocky have been defeated soundly by the majority and any other answer would amount to a clear lie coming out of his mouth. "Everything's true. I suggested to Aunt Sienna that she should go inside and say hello to Zoey. Rocky and I have been in cahoots since before the family reunion. Rocky came up with the idea to have family members turn against Zoey and Dawn, and put pressure on them to break up with each other. I did it because out of selfish greed and envy, I wanted Dawn for myself and the fact that I don't think that she's gay. I'm still standing by that notion."

Scooting her way behind Zoey so that no one can see her face cringe in a fit of nervousness, Dawn silently curses Corey, knowing full well that the young boy is indeed speaking the truth.

"She's with me, isn't she?" Zoey asks Corey. "She's a girl, I'm a girl, and we are together. And that means that were in a lesbian relationship. So what you're saying can't be true, little brother."

"Corey, that's…that's…there aren't any kind or politically correct words to describe what you and Rocky did," K.C. explains to his younger brother looking at him directly in his eyes. "So I'll say that what you did was immoral and wrong. That's as nice as I'll put it to you, little brother. And you know something else? I know and you know that you know better than that. You may be young, but you're old enough to know what's right and wrong. You could have said 'no' to Rocky, but you didn't. This isn't even something kind of wrong or _somewhat_ wrong, Corey. This is just plain wrong." Pointing to Zoey, K.C. reaffirms to Corey, "That is your sister and next to her is her girlfriend. So you think that she isn't gay? Who _freaking_ cares, Corey? Like Zoey said, they are still_ together_!"

Sighing deeply, K.C. feels that he has let everything out of his system that he can, but then he realizes that there is one more thing that he can say to Corey to truly make a statement. "You know what, Corey? I'm so mad at you right now…you're off _Midnight Madness_ tonight, Corey."

"What?" Corey exclaims, with his attention being had upon hearing his brother. "But, Kevin…"

"No buts, Corey," K.C. retorts. "I don't care if you do have a big part in tonight's show; you're in the band because you've earned your spot for doing well in school and for your community service. But I can't allow you to be in the band knowing what you've done to our family." Corey pouts in response to his older brother's explanation for his action.

"Go ahead and sulk if you want," K.C. says, "it's your own fault that you're not in tonight's performance. No matter what, Corey, Zoey is your sister. You want to make her happy? Don't break her and Dawn up! Support them, like a good brother would! That's all I have to say. Brother, you've lost a lot of favor here. And I'll just say this and I'm done…I think what you did was absolutely foolish and disgusting."

"K.C., thank you for that, but lest we forget that Corey was goaded by an even bigger, older and allegedly more mature fool. Rocky?" Jo-Jo prods, "Do you have anything to add to what your brothers are saying?"

Rocky examines her situation with the most careful of mindsets. Does she really want to reveal this in an open forum? Her Aunt Sienna might consider Zoey a freak, but what about her?

"All I wanted…" Rocky begins, but then stops. She finally decides to not go any further. "No. I've got nothing to add. I goaded Corey into my plan, and I was the mastermind behind much of this. I don't have anything else to say that Corey hasn't said." Rocky puts her head down in shame of more than just being found out by her family.

"How could you?" Dawn questions of the oldest Neale sibling. "Your parents love you, and so does Zoey. Why would you want to mess with such a good thing and ruin bonds in the process? Because of your actions, Rocky, you've made Zoey several times today. It didn't have to happen, but for whatever reason you can muster from within your belly, you've made your own sister sad thinking that _she _did something wrong! I reiterate it didn't have to happen like this, Rocky! Is it still my past? Is it still the fact that I've had many boyfriends? I should let you know that my past hasn't affected this relationship or this family in the least bit, so that argument doesn't hold a candle to your dissent towards me. So what is it?"

"Dawn?"

"With all due respect, Jo-Jo," Dawn counters, "You said that this forum was all about being open and honest with each other, but so far, the only person in this room that hasn't been honest is Rocky. She's been piggybacking on Corey while _she_ just sulks here like a child not getting her way."

"It's not that, Dawn," Rocky defends.

"Then why don't you tell us what it is, Rocky?"

"Rocky," Adman steps in, "You don't have to answer that."

"Adam/Adman?" both Jo-Jo and Dawn question in unison.

"Jo," Adman whispers into the ear of his wife, "Look at her! She's hurting. Something is clearly hurting her. Whatever it is, do we really want to open this up while _everyone_ is here? No matter what she's done, she's still our daughter. She looks like she regrets what she's done."

"If she regrets the hurt that she put Zoey through so much, then how come I haven't heard an apology come out of her mouth?" Jo-Jo asks, matter-of-factly.

Adman has to agree with his wife. Although Rocky sounds as if she regrets what she has done, it could very well be the classic case of someone being sorry for the fact that they got caught.

"Rocky? Do you have anything to say to Dawn and Zoey?" Adman asks, with a tone alluding to Rocky that she should apologize for what she has done.

"I…" Rocky begins, bringing her head up to face her younger sister. Once again, Rocky has to silently compliment how beautiful her sister's face looks and has always looked. Shaking off those thoughts for what seems like the nth time, Rocky takes in a few deep breaths, before she tells Zoey, with tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry, Zoey. I was wrong. I went about this the wrong way, and…didn't consider you and how you felt. We didn't…talk or anything. If we did, I feel things might have been different."

"I don't know," Zoey admits honestly. "I thought that you would be adult enough to accept Dawn and me, but you had to be a backstabber, Rocky. For some reason, you couldn't just let me be, _again_! It seems like every time any girl is near me you have to stick your nose into the situation. I—I just don't get this at all."

Zoey is holding herself together in an attempt to not get too emotional in front of her family and girlfriend. "You say you're sorry, but I don't believe it, Rocky. I know that sounds cruel, but I don't believe you," Zoey admits sadly, with tears coming out of her eyes for the third time today. "You judged Dawn before you even got to know her; you made what should have been an exciting and fun time for us as we came to the Seafoam Islands a tense time because you had to brag about whatever you heard about Dawn to Dawn, which whatever it was I could give a flying fuck about."

"Zoey!" Jo-Jo exclaim.

"Sorry, ma'am," Zoey apologizes. Getting back to Rocky, Zoey continues, "Like Dawn said, everything that happened in the past is in the past, and it won't affect our future together, because no matter _what_ anyone tries to do or say, I plan on staying with Dawn as long as I can. But just think…think about what you've done, Rocky! You had to bring _Corey_ into this…mess by playing with his emotions knowing that he would be very sensitive to something like this, and you caught him in your little game. Well, after that,_ you_ got caught, Rocky, so that means it's over. I'm not taking any more bull crap from you or anyone else from this moment forward. If I catch or hear about _anyone _treating or talking about Dawn and me negatively, they will be hearing from me." Turning away from Rocky, Zoey backs away and joins Dawn in a holding of hands signifying their union and devotion to one another.

Inside, Mikey Neale is to reveal that from the very beginning, she knew about Rocky and Corey's plans. Seeing that Zoey is likely finished speaking and nobody else has opened their mouth in some form of response, Mikey breaks the silence by revealing, "I…need to be honest about something. I knew about Rocky and Corey…from the very beginning."

This revelation more than catches Dawn and Zoey off guard. They had always felt that Mikey would be the one person in the entire household that would have their back. She had it when she felt that the two went too far in their affection for each other while in the shower, and would defend the pair constantly in front of her family. Now she's saying that she knew about Rocky and Corey's alliance from the onset? It made no sense, especially to the 'outsider' in this family meeting, Dawn.

"Mikey?" Dawn questions despondently. "This entire time you knew about Rocky and Corey?" Dawn pauses so that Mikey can answer and Dawn sees Mikey nod her head silently.

"Then why didn't you tell us, Mikey?"

"Because you said you could handle it, Dawn!" Mikey states, matter-of-factly. "You both told me that I shouldn't have to worry about either of you because you could take care of yourselves, so I kept my peace and gave you two your space."

"But don't you think that this would be something that we'd want to know, Mike? Whatever you heard about my girlfriend's sibling's activities should have clued you into the fact that this is knowledge that we could have used to not get into a situation like this, Mikey!" Dawn rebuts, with the conversation becoming noticeably more heated. "And instead of glossing over how cute the two of us look or making banners or drawing pictures of the two of us together, maybe you could have been a better sister to Zoey and let her know just what was up."

Mikey doesn't take that type of talk lightly. Dawn is essentially questioning how good of a sister Mikey is to Zoey. Mikey stands up directly in front of Dawn pointing a finger in her face, declaring, "Damn it, Dawn! I trust my sister when she says that she can handle things!" Mikey defends. "And I don't know _where_ the hell you get off saying I'm not a good sister."

"Mikey, sit down and settle down! What did I tell you about yelling?" Jo-Jo begs of her youngest daughter and K.C., Sienna, Adman and Ivan all share this same sentiment. Mikey does not heed her mother's words and instead continues to stand her ground against her sister's girlfriend.

"You're stretching my words, Mikey!" Dawn points to the youngest of the Neales. "I said you could have been a _better_ sister and told Zoey and I about Rocky and Corey."

"Dawn, Mikey? Come on," Zoey pleads of the two, as she almost appears to be the forgotten one in this discussion about right and wrong.

"Zoey, don't worry," Dawn assures her girlfriend. "Your sister would rather put her trust into words and not see beyond them to do what is right and trust her gut? She is gutless."

"Oh, really?" Mikey responds with an evil smile. "That's how you feel, Dawn? I'm gutless because I listened to my sister and respected her wishes? Well, maybe you're right. Maybe it's best that we all let our secrets out then, if that's the case." Hearing this, Zoey gasps loudly, as she has a feeling just what her sister is alluding to.

"Mikey, come on!" Zoey begs of her sister. "All right. Listen to me again, Mikey! Don't say it, Mikey! Come on! At least let us have _this_ kept to ourselves!"

"Are you going to apologize for saying that I should be a better sister to Zoey, Dawn?" Mikey questions. "It's your call, Dawn, so what's it gonna be?"

"Dawn, think about it!" Zoey attempts to convince. "Put away your pride for once and apologize to Mikey. No matter what, she meant well, but they don't need to know everything! Please let our business remain our business!"

"Okay," Adman says, seeing and hearing more than enough, "This…this has gone way, _way _too far. Michelle? _Shannon?_" Dawn turns her head upon the mentioning of her real first name. "It's clearly obvious that you two have a disagreement. The thing is that quite frankly, I've forgotten what it is! All I know is that you two are at each other's throats because Dawn, you thought that Mikey would tell you something when you said that no matter what, you and Zoey would take care of your own problems. Dawn, don't you think, even if it is just a little bit, that you _might've_ given Mikey mixed signals?"

For those people that are around Dawn the most, it becomes very clear to them that Dawn is a very proud individual that won't often admit her faults, but the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that her anger is directed to the wrong person. Had she known far in advance that Rocky and Corey were working together to break her and Zoey up, in all likelihood they would still be having a conversation just like this, making the time that Mikey revealed her knowledge to all parties involved very irrelevant.

"Maybe," Dawn begins, "I was…expecting too much from you, Mike. I wanted you to let us have our space, but at the same time, I also wanted you to tell us if there was any instance on the part of Rocky and Corey or anyone else of some foul play. It's almost as if I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. I should've said something to at least…clarify exactly what I wanted. I'm sorry, Mikey, for saying that you were a bad sister because you did what we asked you to do, and I'm also sorry for calling you gutless."

Mikey is surprised to hear those two words exit the mouth of Dawn Berlitz. It's interesting that not even two minutes ago, it appeared that the two would come to fisticuffs and that Dawn would be fighting her second Neale sibling since her trip, but now thanks to some quick thinking from her father, Mikey is seeing Dawn's side of her disdain much clearer.

"I probably should have said something to everyone _before_ the reunion began," Mikey says in all honesty. "That way, all of the problems between Rocky, Corey and everyone could be squared away before the festivities, but…forgive me if I still think that I was right to not interfere and become part of the problem. I'm also sorry for cursing at you and for threatening to say…you know."

"What?" Rocky asks. "What's Mikey talking about?"

"It's between Zoey and me, Rocky," Dawn says sternly to the oldest of the Neale children. Turning back to Mikey Neale, Dawn assures her "It's okay. No need to worry," Bringing out her right hand, she asks Mikey, "Friends?"

Mikey instead opts to give her sister's girlfriend a hug, saying "Friends indeed!"

Zoey stands up with a very crystal clear smile on her face. As she explains, "All right! That's what I like to see, you two. Rocky? Corey? Take a good look at this. It's called resolution. It's called letting go of whatever grudge you have and accepting what is for what it is. I love Dawn, and that's not changing any time soon, so there. And now, _I'm_ done."

"If nothing else is said, I'll add that any more screw ups or mishaps from anyone during the rest of the reunion and the vacation will be punished…severely. Understood?" Jo-Jo asks generally to everyone in the room. Hearing no objections to her request, Jo-Jo smiles and says, "Very well. This meeting is adjourned. Now everyone go have fun."

* * *

In an attempt to find some normalcy in their lives, both Delia Ketchum and her son's fiancée Jessie have a light lunch and go through the house mail during this early Friday afternoon. After rummaging through about three or four pieces of mail that dealt with a bill, sweepstakes or some other form of junk, Jessie comes across a letter with the correct address of the house, but it has a foreign name to her.

"Uh, Delia?" Jessie questions, "Do you know a…Lewis P. Bartow?"

"Lewis P. Bartow?" Delia reiterates. "Name doesn't even ring a bell. Who's it from?"

"It's a gaming company of some sorts. I asked because it has the same address as the house," Jessie explains. "Well, maybe we oughta keep it for now. Ash might know something about it."

Going through the rest of the letters, Delia gets a knock on the door. Jessie gets up from her seat and answers the door to let Professor Oak into the house. Greeting Samuel as he comes inside, the Professor gets right down to business. "Okay, Delia. Norman just called me on his cell phone and told me that he's about an hour or so away from Pallet Town."

"The whole family is gonna be there?"

"Yes, ma'am, and May is bringing her boyfriend, Drew, who is on vacation with the family."

"May," Jessie speaks laconically. "She _has_ to be taking this hard. I mean, I'm sure her brother Max is also taking this hard, but, I mean those three traveled together along with Brock for almost two years. I—I can't imagine what's going through her head right now. May learned so much, became such a competitor because of Ash's support and because of her will. She has to be just…beside herself."

Delia agrees with Jessie to a great extent. "She does care for him very much. Let's all head to the hospital and meet them right now."

* * *

"Well," Kelly ponders, "there were also these two coordinators named Savannah and Sandra. I was with…"

"Now, wait a minute," Solidad interrupts. She cannot believe what she is hearing and fears the worst so much that she puts down the pen and pad. "Wait just one New York City minute, Kelly," Solidad begins calmly. "There is a mother-daughter tandem of pokemon coordinators named Savannah and Sandra that make a lot of their business in the Hoenn region. Sandra, the last time that I checked was 15 years old. She's much younger than you are."

"She is, I believe, now…17 years old, so she's not as young as you think," Kelly informs Solidad.

"We're talking about the same people?"

"Yes. I had sex with both of them," Kelly speaks.

"Good Lord, Kelly," Solidad laments while pinching the bridge of her nose. As Solidad is about to add these names to the list, she looks at the purple-haired girl, who appears to have something on her mind. On an intuition, Solidad asks Kelly, "There's more to this story?"

Kelly chuckles for a moment before she tells Solidad, "They're both very…extroverted in the sexual sense. I never had sex with _either_ of them one on one. It was always _ménage a trios_."

'Okay,' Solidad thinks while placing the names of both mother and daughter into the notepad. "Oh my God, Kelly. I…no comment on that one. That still doesn't count as one, though."

"What? You don't think I know that?" Kelly questions of the older woman.

"Can we just move on, for goodness's sake?" Solidad asks, almost to the point of yelling the hair off the top of her head.

* * *

Tired, weary and downright heartbroken from the news he got earlier today about his brother, Forrest, the gym leader of Pewter City, makes his way into the kitchen. His mission is to find anything of substance for him to eat, and to try and avoid his brother and his boyfriend for as long as he can.

Forrest did not come out of his room for breakfast or for lunch, so he would obviously have to fend for himself in this mission. Once finding some fresh fruit and a large bagel, he makes his way out of the kitchen with the intent to go back into his room and get to work on his Monday visit to Celadon City to protest James's placement into the Pewter gym payroll.

Before he can make his way back to his room to continue work on his written and spoken proposals, he runs across his mother Lola in the hallway.

Being the polite gentleman that he is, Forrest just says, "Hi, mom."

"Hello, Forrest," Lola retorts. Knowing that there is ice between Forrest and the rest of the family, Lola decides to take action before her second oldest son leaves. "You know, Forrest. I realize that all of this is quite a shock. It was a shock to me when I found out at breakfast. Brock has always been—well, in _his_ mind, he's always been a ladies' man, so for him to come home and say, 'I have a boyfriend,' it's a shock. But, Forrest, I made a promise to myself that no matter what, I would always love and care for my family through thick and thin. I doubt it gets as thick as this; your oldest son coming home telling you he's done with girls and has a boyfriend."

"Aren't you at all disgusted by that, mom?" Forrest asks out of curiosity.

"Should I be?" Lola asks rhetorically. "He was Brock the day I gave birth to him, and he'll be Brock until the day he dies. And furthermore, he's his own man, and he can make his own decisions. I don't have to agree with them all, but I will respect them. That's part of being grown and being an adult, Forrest. Not everyone in this house agrees completely with what Brock is doing, but the fact is that because of a grave misunderstanding, we are all in this together, for better or for worse."

"What is that supposed to mean, mom?" Forrest asks, frustrated that the answer isn't clear. "'We're all in this together.' What are you saying?"

"You're a smart young man, Forrest," Lola states clearly. "Figure it out for yourself, but think about this: Do you really hate your brother because of this, or something else?"

"I just don't see how he can just come in here after being away for two years and… he just makes all of these changes at one time. Yes, he has stock in the gym and so does dad, and in that instance, majority does rule, but we—_I_ feel left out in this instance. He might as well bring in any Joe Blow off the streets to be a part of running this gym. It doesn't…it _shouldn't _work like that, mom! There has to be a process, but apparently, we all have to yield to Brock's wants and Brock's needs and Brock's desires. For once in my life, I wish that it didn't have to be that way, and that Forrest could get control of his own destiny _without_ Brock in the picture."

"But he's not bringing in just anyone to this gym, Forrest!"

"It feels like anyone to me!" Forrest reveals while raising his voice. "We as a family haven't gotten to meet him, spend time with him or even just talk, like we're talking right now, mom, and all of a sudden because it's my brother's boyfriend and I don't have the type of stock that Brock or Dad have in the gym, I have to work with this guy? That's not how it should work, mom, and you know that. If any other one of us kids were to bring home a boyfriend or a girlfriend regardless of the situation, you and dad would give them the third degree, but not Brock. Oh, no. Not big brother, and because of that, everything's being thrust upon me and this gym and I'm just supposed to accept it? I don't think so." By the time he finishes his controlled rant, Forrest's voice starts to break. Feeling the tears about to run down his face, Forrest turns away from his mother in shame.

Lola walks carefully over to her son and goes to place a hand on his shoulder. Forrest shrugs it off without saying anything of resistance to his mother. Lola accepts her son's reaction, and instead opts to give him a few words to ponder. "Fine, but just remember you're the one that called your brother and his boyfriend names. You didn't even give them a chance before they came in and introduced themselves as a pair."

"But that was after I found out that dad and Brock were going to take James in."

"Forrest, I could give a damn _when_ it happened!" Lola defends, laying down the line in the process. "The fact is that it did happen, and if you wanted to know more about James, you can do what we're doing right now. Just talk to him. I see behind that tough bravado that you've carried yourself with the past three years that your brother hasn't been in the picture. You don't hate the fact your brother is gay; you hate the fact that you're in his shadow_ again_, with all the attention diverted back to him. Am I right?"

The young man can't believe it. "Mom, you're reading me like a book. When he left to go on his journey and become a breeder and dad took over, I was promised that when I came of age, I'd get the gym. After a while, you two gave me control of the day to day and after that, I got the title and position of leader. Brock had been gone for quite some time, and I felt that it was my time to make my mark. This was my time to step out of the pack, and prove to everyone that Flint's other boy could make things…flourish in this gym. I felt for Brock when he went away to prison. I really did, but I knew that he'd eventually come back. I accepted it, but…you're right, mom. Those words that I said were said on impulse. I don't hate my brother, and I never will. I just wish I felt like I mattered in these decisions, because I do."

"No one's saying that you don't, Forrest," Lola acquiesces, "but degrading your brother and calling him names is not the same as a solution. A 'solution' would be to give and not just take, considering the circumstances. I know that that might not sound like what you want to do, but in this world, we do things that we don't want to do because it's the right thing to do. Otherwise, everything goes awry and we might as well have anarchy and martial law as our philosophy. So what's the right thing to do, Forrest?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do," Lola retorts as she makes her way to her and Flint's room. "You've always known what you need to do. You just needed some…motherly advice. Think about it, Forrest. Like I told you, we're _all _in this together, for better or for worse."

Lola leaves Forrest in his room to consider everything that has been said and spoken. With the food items long since placed onto the floor off to the side of the gym leader, the thought of nourishing himself has departed Forrest's head. Not once considering the fact that with his words he left his first and lasting impression upon James and to a lesser extent, Brock, Forrest starts to understand that his words were more of a disguise of a greater rift between the two brothers than mere opinions on homosexuality, love and employment. The simple fact that Brock is the oldest sibling and then Forrest directly follows him down the family line will naturally cause the younger brother to always fall in the shadow of the older brother. With Brock being away as often as he was and traveling the whole of the pokemon world, it didn't give either him or Forrest the chance to really talk about this inferiority complex that he's harbored since youth.

Forrest doesn't quite know what to do next, knowing how much he's overreacted to something that didn't require such spite. 'I really need to think this over,' Forrest thinks, as he takes his food and heads back inside of his room to figure out how to go about apologizing to both James and Brock and explaining exactly why he acted the way he did when he heard Brock's news.

* * *

"I also had sex with…Prima."

'Meeting of four round mounds, I suppose?' Solidad thinks facetiously before placing the name 'Prima' amongst the names on the list.

"What? No smart aleck comments this time, Solie?"

"I guess…" Solidad remarks, "I almost…expected that one?"

"Whatever," Kelly acquiesces.

* * *

With their heads down and their minds focused on both Ash Ketchum and the guests that should be arriving onto the hospital grounds in just a few moments, Delia and Jessie are sitting down in the critical care unit biding their time. They have not received any information regarding the pokemon trainer who has been in a coma since early yesterday evening, only hearing time to time from doctors that he remains in his stable state.

While the two ladies want nothing more than to keep their spirits up for Ash, Dr. Sloan did inform the people in the room yesterday that the next day or two that Ash remains in his present state would be paramount in importance to his future health.

As they ponder the many details given to them about Ash's condition, an orderly knocks on the waiting room door, opening it. "Excuse me, Mrs. Ketchum? The Maple family and Master Drew Roderick are here."

Delia nods her head and requests that the orderly, "Send them in, please." Not even five seconds pass before the family enters in with the patriarch Norman entering first, followed quickly by his wife, and then the kids with Max coming immediately after his mother and May and Drew walking inside the waiting room together, hand in hand. Jessie notices that May looks especially nervous in the room, but quickly dismisses this unusual show of emotion, thinking that it might have to do with either her good friend's poor condition, or a common fear of hospitals.

One by one, each member of the party greets Delia and Jessie warmly, with each one giving their condolences to the mother and the fiancée. As all of them take seats and form an imperfect circle, Caroline starts off the conversation. "I couldn't imagine my daughter or my son lying in a hospital bed because of some sick person wanting…whatever. It makes me appreciate the fact that I have May and Max here and I know that they are safe. You just never know, Delia. All you can do is hope that you've given your children the right guidance and love that they can survive on for many years, but…sometimes, even that isn't enough."

"Uh, Caroline," Delia says, "I don't really know how to say this, but on Monday afternoon, I did get the news about your daughter having a panic attack."

"Why are you talking about me as if I'm not here?"

"May!" Caroline scolds. "That's rude!"

"No, no. It's okay," Delia assures, "That was my fault. I wasn't thinking. But the fact is that your brother did text message Gary Oak and a few other people about your panic attack, and one of the things Max mentioned in the texts was that you blew up when Ash commented that he didn't believe that you won the Grand Festival."

May looks at Ash's mother with a great deal of bewilderment. "What are you trying to say, Mrs. Ketchum?" she asks in an attempt to play off her involvement in the case. "Because I got a little heated with Ash and what he had to say, I went off the deep end?"

Holding her hand up in objection to that particular notion, Delia clarifies to May, "I'm not accusing you of anything, May. It's just that…I'm trying to piece in my mind why anyone would do this to my son. He had no enemies."

"First of all," May says, setting the record straight, "that's why we have a police force. I trust them to piece together everything, and find out who did this in due time. And second of all, there's no way I could've went to Pallet Town to attack your son. I was out all of yesterday afternoon taking a long walk through a few areas of the Hoenn region. I wanted to cool my head after the announcement by Contesta that the decision of the Grand Festival was reversed."

"Actually, that is true, Mrs. Ketchum," Max defends. "There's a message on our answering machine that pretty much says the exact same thing, so…if police wanted to question her, you can't really have a stronger alibi than that."

"That's the second thing I wanted to say," Delia adds, "The police _are_ conducting a thorough investigation and they want to question as many people that have been associated with Ash over the years as they possibly can. The police have told me that it's completely your decision whether or not to go through with questioning or not at this point as they're early in the investigation, but that they want to get as much information as they can to form their basis for some sort of motive."

"Okay," Norman answers, "That sounds good. We can all go through questioning after we see Ash Ketchum."

Even though Norman is all for questioning, his daughter, May, is obviously not, though she cannot let anyone else know this. While the thought of being questioned by law enforcement about Ash Ketchum's attack does scare her and rightfully so, her guilt has to come into some form of reasonable doubt due to the fact that she already has her alibi in place and her brother and her parents to back up the same claim. 'Just keep cool, and you'll be all right, May,' the coordinator tells herself.

"Excuse me, Delia?" Dr. Sloan calls as he raps on the waiting room door, "Ash can be seen by people right now if you'd like. I apologize for the delay, but we had to do a few routine vital scans on his bodily activity. Remember, it's no more than three at a time, so who would like to go in first?"

"Mom? Dad?" May opens, "Maybe you two should go first. I—need to prepare in my own way to see him, but…I say you two go first, and then Drew and I can go after that."

Slowly but surely, Norman agrees with his daughter's suggestion, but he has to get approval from the person right next to him. "What do you think, Caroline?"

"Well hospitals give me the creeps, and…I really would just like to see him again," Caroline admits. "We'll go first, Dr. Sloan and get this over with."

"Very well," the doctor responds as he watches both Norman and Caroline get up from their seats and leave the waiting room.

About a minute after this, May excuses herself to go to the restroom. The truth of this action is to actually get away from her brother and her boyfriend and respond back to a few voicemails. Drew and Max both look at May oddly as they know that prior to them coming into the waiting room, May made a stop in the restroom.

While Drew is more content with letting the issue go, Max is much more inquisitive on the matter considering all that he has discovered about his sister up until this point. 'She's probably going to call Kelly,' Max hypothesizes scornfully.

But the more he thinks about his sister's problems, the more he realizes that there is no escape from his own personal problems. 'I have to call Misty,' Max thinks. 'I haven't been able to get away from anyone to call her, but I can't keep this secret for much longer. It's tearing me apart knowing this.'

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ketchum," Max apologizes. "I realize it's a bit inappropriate seeing as May just stepped out, but…I really need to step out for just a second."

"No," Delia assures Max, "Don't worry about it. Take your time with whatever you have to do."

Getting up, Max thanks Delia and makes his way out of the waiting room like his parents and sister before him. Once again, Drew becomes very suspicious of the behavior of Max, like he has been for quite a while. 'What the heck is up with him? He seemed like at one point he was going to cry during breakfast this morning, and during the car ride down here, he seemed pretty jumpy. I know that we're all here to see Ash Ketchum and the report on his condition wasn't good, but even before all of that…maybe I should get to the bottom of this once and for all.'

"Um, Jessie? Mrs. Ketchum?" Drew speaks. "I know that I'm not a part of the Maple family right now, but…I just want to say that if anything happened to May, I don't know what I'd do with myself, honestly. I haven't always been the model boyfriend, but May completes me. I know that sounds cliché, but it's the truth. I'm sure Ash does the same for you, Jessie?"

"Absolutely," Jessie says, smiling for the first time in quite a while. "You know, this past day or so when Ash has been in a coma has been…bad, but at the same time, there is some good that has come out of it. I've recollected on all of the high times and the low times that we've had, and believe you me, for anyone that has ever believed that they and the one they love have been in a roller coaster ride, it won't compare to the one that Ash and I have shared. No sir."

After a couple of minutes of silence between the three, Drew feels like there is no better time than the present for him to put his plan into action and find out what his young friend Max is up to. "Um, say," Drew speaks out, "Max has been gone for quite a while, so…I think I'm gonna check on him and see if he's doing alright. Alright?"

Delia and Jessie both have no problem with it and allow Drew to get up from his seat and check on Max. As Drew leaves, Jessie remarks to her future mother-in-law, "And we're right back where we started, aren't we Mom?"

"I—I'm going to let the Maple family do what they want, Jess," Delia informs Jessie. "I mean, what can I do now that I haven't done already? If they want to walk around and prepare themselves however they want to when they see Ash, then more power to them. If that means that they have to cry in the bathroom, take ten deep breaths or what have you, then that's fine. You have to prepare in your own way to see him, and I completely accept that."

* * *

Once firmly positioned inside of her bathroom stall, May dials the first of two numbers that she planned on calling once she was finally able to get out of her boyfriend and family's hair. The first number is one that she will have to punch in without the use of speed dial, but to May, that's a minor price to pay. Hearing one dial tone, May also hears the sound of a phone line click over, and the voice of a teenage male say 'Hello'.

"Yeah, am I speaking to Kenny Dalton?" May asks the person at the other end of the line.

The other part of this telephone conversation has his ear next to the receiver and is in total shock. Kenny fully recognizes the voice of May Maple, one of his finest customers from some years back prior to his incarceration. After a second or so, the shock wears off as Kenny realizes that after his voicemail message from earlier, on what can only be described as a lucky shot for Kenny, May called back to the offices in Rustboro City. "Uh, yeah. This is Kenny…Dalton. May Maple? Is that you?" Kenny had to make sure he was not dreaming.

"Yeah, Kenny," May affirms. "It's me. Hey, when did you get out of jail?"

"Just yesterday," Kenny explains to May. "I was able to bypass my parole officer and all of that other bullshit, and I wanted to get back to work right away for…personal reasons. I wanted to know if you were still interested in some premium stuff that's been in storage for a while."

"Yeah. I'm very interested," May informs Kenny. "If I want to get a leg up on my competition in bodybuilding, I need an edge. Human growth hormone and testosterone are okay, but everyone is using them these days, including the girls. I need something that really makes my body…stand out from the crowd."

"Well the government has banned this, so you've gotta know that it's good shit," Kenny brags. "Actually, I don't know if you're into that herbal crap or what not, but that's what this stuff is. It's from South Africa, and it's supposed to make you more chiseled than Michelangelo's _David_. The governments around the world didn't really care for the idea of this natural herb cutting into the profits of their Creatine, protein products and all of that other stuff that's supposed to build million-dollar bodies, so they made it illegal some years back. I think it was the work of lobbyists from the companies that make that stuff, but I digress.

"Actually, the story is pretty sad, because the United Nations got involved and made up reports about how this 'miracle herb' was causing heart attacks, when every report I've heard from South Africa suggests that people who've taken this herb on a daily basis suffer no side effects and have model physiques because of it. But then agents came in with orders from the South African government to burn all of the gardens and forests that grew it without any prior notice. These gardens were some of those Africans and Afrikaners livelihoods, but they lost everything because the government had the power. Before they got their 'cease and desist' letters, there were a few people who stocked up beforehand on the stuff, including Avenue Five.

"And let me tell you, May," Kenny assures, "just a teaspoon of this stuff and you'll get that cut and definition that every bodybuilder covets. But this comes at a price."

"Kenny," May interrupts, "you know that money isn't much of an issue for me if at all. But just how much is this stuff?"

"Well there was a big push to sell a lot of this as quickly as possible around the time of the herb burning some years back, but because a lot of people assuming that all of it is gone, the demand has gone down. Now the price is about…eight thousand dollars for every kilogram."

"Goddamn!" May interjects. "I hope this is fucking awesome if you're gonna charge the same as some street drugs for it. If that's the price for it cheap, I hate to hear the price for it in high demand." Thinking over the deal in her head, it all sounds really good. May will admit that of the many people she has met in her bodybuilding career, Kenny Dalton is the one she trusts the most as he has the most knowledge about any new products on the street or inside the laboratories. Considering every bit of information given to her by Kenny, May makes his decision. "Give me five kilos of the stuff, Kenny."

Kenny could not believe what he just heard, so he had to reiterate the order to May. "Five…kilograms? Is that what you want?"

"Yeah. I'll order five kilos of this stuff."

"But that's 40,000 dollars of this herb!" Kenny exclaims. "And, although I didn't mention this at first, you should only take one teaspoon of this stuff called _Woodia_ three times a day You can put it in your food or your drink if you don't want to just swallow the stuff, but any more than three teaspoons a day, and it amounts to abuse of this stuff. It's natural, but too much of _anything_ can be…"

"I know. I know, Kenny," May says, knowing full well the caveats that can arise in this business.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Again, yes. Without you giving me a leg up on these new techniques, I wouldn't have won as many championships as I have."

Kenny can't argue with his finest client any more on the matter without risking his very big commission that he's bound to get from the sale. 25 percent of everything that Kenny sells to his clients he gets back in his paycheck. If he can complete this sale, then he is guaranteed an income of 10,000 dollars for one phone call and about five minutes of talking on the phone. 'I need to show the family that I can make big money like I did back in the day, but most of all, I need this money to show Dawn and Johanna that I mean business.'

"Okay," Kenny acquiesces. "Let me just get your new credit card information, and we'll ship it to you as soon as we can."

* * *

Making his way to the men's bathroom, Max inconspicuously checks his surroundings to make sure that nobody can incriminate him based on what he's about to say in his phone conversation. Finding an empty stall, Max remains standing on his own two feet before digging into his pocket and finding his cell phone. Once he finds it, he presses a few numbers to get him to the list of speed dials. Searching for Misty, Max presses the button that will give the Cerulean City gym leader a call.

Max doesn't have to wait long before he hears the voice of the mother of his child-to-be on the other end of the line. "Hey, Max. What took you so long?" Misty asks, though she is not as aggravated as Max thought she would be.

"I'm sorry for that," Max apologizes. "I couldn't find a single moment away from my mom, dad, Drew or May. If I did, you would have heard from me sooner. We've been planning a visit to Pallet Town since this morning. God, who the hell could have done that to Ash? I just want to know what chicken shit out there felt like they had to do this, and for what?"

"It's terrible," Misty laments on the other line. "I know that I don't speak well of Ash, and for good reason, but he didn't deserve what happened to him in the least bit. I hope they find out who did this and quickly. Time is of the essence to nab this bastard. But…as inconsiderate as it may sound, I don't want to talk about Ash Ketchum right now. We _do _have more pressing issues to take care of."

"I know." Max realizes that this may be the most important phone call that he makes in his sixteen years of life. In the brief time that he has with his girlfriend, Max will have to explain several things to Misty concerning how to go about telling his parents, arraignments with doctors that deal in prenatal care, living arraignments and…there is one other matter that he has to square away with Misty while he has her on the phone. "I want to make a date with my folks to tell them about your pregnancy. Are you okay with—can you make it to Petalburg on Sunday? I can't hold this in much longer, and I want the two of us to be there to tell them together. I don't want them to get the idea that I'm ashamed of being with you, because I'm not. I don't regret it in the least bit."

"I can do Sunday," Misty explains after a second or two of silence. "And…I think that we can spend that entire day with your parents talking about and planning what we're gonna do about our son or daughter."

'Misty's right,' Max wonders in his head. 'We don't need to figure out everything right now. This baby's coming in about seven months. There's still plenty of time for all of us to sit down and figure out our plans.'

Max then remembers probably the most important and life-altering aspect of this pregnancy. "Misty, there is one more thing that we need to talk about. Mom and dad…have instilled in May and I…a principle for many years. If we have a child, I don't want our child to be born out of wedlock."

"Max?"

"Misty, just let me finish," Max asserts.

"But can't this be something that we talk about with your parents, Max?"

"And we _will _talk about this with my folks, Misty. I—I just want to warn you about this before we talk to my parents on Sunday," Max defends. "I don't want any surprises at all. That is the one thing that I feel would surprise you. Everything else is by the book with the exception of marriage. I know that marriage might be the last thing on either of our minds, but…that is one of the realities of our lives right now. My parents will in all likelihood demand that we get married and…I agree with them. I don't want my child to come into the world in a broken home."

"Max," Misty begins, though she is quite hesitant, "that's…damn noble of you. I gotta admit that that's very noble. I'm not entirely for it, but I can understand where you're coming from. Again, on Sunday, we will talk about everything, so we can figute out what's best for us and the baby. Okay, thanks for calling me. If you can get in touch with me tomorrow, please do so, otherwise, I'll make it to Petalburg on Sunday morning to tell your folks. Okay?"

"Fine by me," Max says. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Good night. Both of you."

"Good night, Max and remember to keep your head up."

"I will," Max assures his girlfriend, "and thank you." Max presses the 'END' button on his phone, and sighs deeply at his unenviable fate. Opening the door to his stall, he looks at his surroundings once more. He didn't hear anyone come inside of the bathroom, so he believes that his secret will remain safe as long as he wants, which won't be that long at all. Seeing as he had no other business to tend to other than his phone call, Max leaves the bathroom without washing his hands. Once the door to the men's restroom is completely closed, a voice from one of the other stalls exclaims loudly, "Oh…My…God! What the hell were you thinking, Max?" The door to a stall next to the one Max was in opens to find Drew Roderick, who in keeping with his promise to himself, now knows exactly what has been eating Max. "You got Misty pregnant? That explains everything! I knew it! Damn it, I _knew _something fishy was going on between those two! That explains why I've always seen the two of them together, that explains why he looked so despondent this morning, and…Max, I thought that you would know better than to have sex before marriage or serious commitment."

Drew cannot believe it, but that goes without saying. To him, Max always appeared to be the smartest of all of Ash Ketchum's friends, but 'If he's so damn smart,' Drew ponders, 'how the heck did he get into this mess? Misty is 24 years old. Max is…16 years old. Aren't there rules about that crap?' Drew has spent enough time in the bathroom to think about everything that has taken place in the last few minutes. Trying to find something in the recesses of his mind to defend Max Maple, Drew can still locate some redeeming qualities about the pickle that his young friend finds himself in. "Well, at least he plans on taking care of his baby with Misty. That's more than I can say for a lot of fathers out there. And I also like the fact that he isn't denying his child. He's stepping up to the plate and manning up." Looking to the door of the men's restroom, Drew speaks honestly about Max, saying, "I can't say I am all in favor of this, but you did get yourself into this mess by lying down with Misty. Good luck, Max. You're gonna need it…and you're also gonna need to sit at least 50 feet from your father when you tell him the news."

* * *

"So, to recap," Kenny asks from the order form, "you want five kilograms of the _Woodia_ herb from South Africa, a two month supply of designer human growth hormone (HGH), you want a three month supply of testosterone and a six month supply of the clear to pass any drug tests at competitions. Is that everything, Maple?"

"That's everything, Dalton," May replies in a sing-song fashion.

"Well, that comes to a grand total of 63,850 dollars. I've got your _Hoenn Region Express_ card and shipping information, and…that should be everything unless you have anything else to say."

"Nope," May tells Kenny. "That should about cover everything. I'll talk you later, alright?"

"Alright, May," Kenny closes. "Take care and good luck with your bodybuilding and pokemon contests."

"Thanks, Kenny," May commends as she says good bye to the former coordinator and closes her phone, ending part one of her response to calls from earlier today. Reopening her cell phone, she goes back to the list of speed dials on her iPhone to find a number that has no name attached. Using the touch screen, she presses her finger against this number, and the graphics prompt her with several options for what to do with this number. She chooses the very first option, which is to call this phone number.

* * *

"There was also this person from…the Orange Islands named Cissy. She was one of the people as well."

"Cissy is not just a _person_ from the Orange Islands, Kelly!" Solidad speaks, to the point of almost yelling. "She is perhaps one of the most recognized gym leaders in all the Orange Islands, and you had sex with her?"

"Did I stutter?"

"No, but you hesitated!" Solidad yells before she hears the sound of a ringing telephone. The telephone is coming from one of Kelly's pockets, and after the many hours of strenuous bookkeeping required for this list, Solidad could care less. "Go ahead," Solidad speaks in monotone. "Get the call."

Kelly takes her cell phone from out of her pocket, thanks Solidad for allowing her to take her call and then exits her room. With the phone ringing numerous times and already knowing that the call is from May Maple, Kelly elects to knock off the racket and finally answer the device.

"Hey May. What's up?"

"Not too much, Kelly-Belle," May replies. "So you wanted me to call you earlier about something important, but…you didn't really say what. So, out with it, Kelly."

"Well, this is something really, _really_ important to me," Kelly begins. "You've known about my story and everything that I went through with my folks. You know that I am protective to a fault about the fact that I am a lesbian. I've begged, borrowed and stolen to keep what I felt was always a private part of my life private. I thought I could keep it secret for as long as I'd like, but…" Kelly pauses as she doesn't want to mention to May that Solidad is at her house. "Someone helped me realize that I can do more good than harm to myself and people that have gone through some shit, like I have. Someone helped me realize that it wasn't good for me to keep this inside. May, what I'm trying to say is…very soon; I'm going to come out of the closet. I'm gonna tell everyone that I'm a lesbian."

On the other end, there is nothing, but at the same time, there is silence. May Maple never thought that this day would come. She and Kelly had always wanted to keep things under wraps. For Kelly, it was a matter of saving her reputation as a businesswoman and for May, it was just a matter of saving her reputation. Whether it was with her family, friends, or her boyfriend, she had a reputation of being a 'good girl' that was chaste, and respected her elders and respected authority. Because the two are so close and have been such good friends for several years, there will be those people that will correctly assume that Kelly has a special girl in her life in one of her 'very good friends' who has been beside Kelly for company business and announcements.

"Are…are you kidding me, Kelly?" May asks while stumbling on her words.

"No, May."

"But—but what about your business? People are gonna react negatively to…"

"I don't care," Kelly interrupts. "Let them. This isn't about them; this is about doing what's best for me and what's best for other gays and lesbians out there. I want to show them that despite the hate and the scorn that exits, you can be something in the world. I want to—no. I _have _to be a role model."

"Okay," May says, "but what about…me? I'll just ask that? What about me, Kelly? You're coming out, but what about me? We're so close—people are gonna say things, and you know my family won't approve of this, and they're gonna ask questions, Kelly. They're gonna wonder, 'May, did you know about Kelly being gay?' Did you think about that, Kelly, or is our relationship becoming more about you each and every day? God, what you're doing sounds so selfish, Kelly."

"Shut up, May!" Kelly exclaims, as May has struck a chord with the bright-headed girl. "Don't you dare call me selfish! Don't you dare call _this _selfish! This isn't selfish. This is me growing up and realizing that keeping everything inside…maybe it doesn't work like I thought it would. I've been hiding and fearful that I might be discovered. What does that do for me, May? Make me paranoid? Make me fear my own shadow and make me shameful of who I am? _That's_ what's selfish…and crazy."

"Okay, but until now," May elaborates to Kelly, "you didn't have a problem with the way things are."

"That's because things have changed, May!" Kelly informs her primary partner. "A lot of things have changed for me in a very short time. Like I said, there are a few people that have helped me realized that the way I've been going isn't the way to go. This morning, I found out that my mom and my dad are going to reconcile."

"Well," May says, not getting the entire picture, "that's great, isn't it? How does that make you decide to come out of the closet, though?"

"I also found out from my mother," Kelly explains to May, "that she is three months pregnant. I'm going to be a big sister to a baby boy or girl, May. That's something that will make you _think_, May. Do I really want that kid, my younger brother or sister, to think that he or she has a whore for a big sister? Do I want him or her to think that fooling around since the age of 11 is a good thing? Hell, no!"

Like May before her, Kelly has seemingly struck a chord with May. But May keeps her silence for now. Besides, Kelly is not referring specifically to May in this instance. She is referring to herself.

"You should know this, May. That's why you are so protective of everything that we do. Your reputation is on the line with your family and life as you know it. As a big sister, you have to set a good example for Max. I've never had to do that, because until now, I've been an only child. There's been no standard that I've had to set. Everything has been about me, but I can't do that anymore, because it's no longer about me and never will be about me again."

"It's been eight years since I lost my virginity, and I've been very busy," Kelly reiterates to May. "I think the list is hundreds and is a who's who of people in the pokemon world that have stepped through the Dyke Clubs. I feel that they were there as a symbol of my own rebellion, but I don't think that I need to rebel anymore. What do I need to rebel for, May? No reason. I'm happy, my folks are getting back together, and I'm just tired of the…playing. I'm so tired, I just want to settle down and stop fooling around. The nights of mindless sex…you can't tell me that that doesn't get old after a while. Aren't you tired, May? Don't you ever feel like leaving Drew and settling down with me? You've told me many times that you don't love him and that you're just with him so that nobody becomes suspicious of us, so why don't you come to someone you _do _love? Maybe starting a family of our…"

"No. Damn it. No, Kelly!" May retaliates in a combination of anger and sadness. With tears coming out of her eyes, May tells Kelly, "I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work. You know that my family comes first, and if they ever find out that I'm…that I'm bisexual, and I've been cheating on Drew with you, then I _will_ lose them, Kelly. No doubt about it, I will lose my family."

"You'll always have family, May," Kelly assures her lover. "My parents adore you and love you like you were their second daughter. If_ anything_ happens with Norman and Caroline, you can live with me as long as you want."

"It's not the same, Kelly," May blubbers. "It just won't be the same. Why can't things stay the way they are, Kelly? I love you to death. I love you so much that it hurts, but we can't have a fairy tale romance like Zoey and Dawn. That's not in the cards for us because we've been through far too much. We've gone behind so many people's backs that we're gone in too deep to even crawl out of our own hole. Why change now?"

"Why change now?" Kelly asks back to May. "I ask why _not_ change now? Everything around us is changing, May. It's only natural that we change. I'm sure you don't think that we can keep on doing this into our 50s, May. I know this and I turned 20 not that long ago. And why would you risk staying with someone you don't love for so long and fear everyday that your secret becomes public and your life _still_ ends up in shambles?"

"Kelly?" May tearfully begs of the girl on the other end, "Stop. For God's sake, just please stop it. I'm begging you."

"May," a voice from inside of the bathroom calls. "Are you in here?"

'Oh God,' May laments in her thoughts, because the person that is calling her name is her mother, Caroline. "Kelly, I'm sorry, but I gotta go, girl. I gotta go right now."

"But wait!" Kelly responds, wanting to keep May on the phone as long as she can so they can continue to talk about this important issue. "May, stay on the…" Kelly stops speaking as she hears the click of the telephone line disconnecting. The purple haired girl sighs as even though the two are several hours and hundreds of miles away, Kelly can feel the pain that May is going through.

Pressing her right hand over her heart, Kelly says, "Please God, help her," as she goes back into the room with Solidad. "Okay, Solie. Let's continue."

* * *

"May," Caroline speaks as she raps on the door of the bathroom stall, "is that you in there, May? Are you crying? What's wrong? Talk to me!"

"Just…just leave me alone, mom," May sobs while speaking. "Please just leave me alone."

"May, I can't help you if you won't let me know what's bothering you!"

'If you knew everything that's been bothering me,' May thinks, 'you wouldn't help me then. I just know it.' "I just…I don't want to see Ash," May tells her mother. "Is that—is that alright, mom? I don't know if I'm up for it."

"May, please open the door and come out so I can see you," Caroline pleads of her daughter. May stifles a chuckle based on her mother's choice of words, but finally decides to exit the bathroom stall and face her mother. Caroline immediately engulfs May into an embrace while her daughter shows the indication of several tears that have fallen from her eyes.

Caroline whispers into her daughter's ear, "You don't have to see him. I'll admit that it's very bad. I barely recognized him with all the…machines he's hooked up to and—it's just a gruesome sight. So I can understand you not wanting to see him." Letting go of her hug and looking at her daughter almost face to face, Caroline assures May, "I do know one thing that you can do. Just keep praying for him, and he'll know you care. I promise you."

While Caroline likely thought that these words would serve as calming assurance for her daughter that everything with Ash would turn out fine, they appeared to have the opposite effect as May runs out of the bathroom in tears once again.

What May's mother doesn't and cannot know is that she wanted Ash Ketchum to die. But May seems to not be getting a lot of the things she wants over this past week.

As long as there is life within the body of the Pallet Town trainer, she risks being found out. Her guilty conscience is beginning to rule her from the inside out as everything from her situation with Kelly and Drew and her attack on Ash Ketchum begins to close in on her all at once. 'What do I do?' May asks herself as she runs to the exit door of the hospital coming face to face with the humid June air.

* * *

Scores and scores of people line the yard of the Seafoam Islands property sitting on beach towels, beach chairs and others still electing to stand up for the entertainment that they are about to receive from a most unlikely source. All of them have their eyes fixated on the large stage before them and the clock on the top which reads 11:48pm on the face. In about 12 minutes time, the Baker-Neale family reunion will officially begin with the singing of the opening song of the band. Family and friends watch the band test equipment and can't help but wave to them and shout their praises before the clock strikes twelve.

While smiles are on most of the faces of the audience consisting of members of the Baker and Neale families along with friends, one face in particular is not happy in the least bit. In fact, his face is more cross than anything else as he wishes to be a part of the second annual _Midnight__ Madness_ concert with his brother Kevin, and the rest of the members of the band called 'The Assertion at the Point,' who specialize in performing several genres of music while their roots remain firmly fitted in alternative rock. He, if you didn't already know, is Corey Neale.

The band is to say the very least an anomaly compared to other rock bands throughout the many regions, as each member is skilled in playing numerous instruments from genres such as classical, electronica, jazz, instrumental and the golden age of rock and roll. Aside from being a band that performs socially-conscious music with a message in each and every song, 'The Assertion,' which is their short form name for their band, is also strong on community efforts, including participation in after school activities and involuntarily volunteering their time to somebody else either as a mentor, tutor or in another role of public service.

Band leader K.C. Neale wanted a rock band that was more of an anti-rock band compared to all of the other musical acts he has heard over the years. With the help of friends, Jake, Melinda, Caleb and Nick who are all majors in music at their local university, they drafted a plan for the band and over the course of four months performed their first gig to resounding jeers. The first audience they got of coordinators during a party after a contest could not relate to what was really a new and foreign sound. With so many genres being mixed together, they neglected to have something stand out to avoid potential confusion.

Undaunted, the band went back to drawing board, and decided that each song should cater to a specific genre, but at the same time, all songs have an message behind and beyond just the lyrics. Giving it another shot, they took gigs at more after parties and began to get an underground following amongst that group. This following would snowball from about a year ago, when K.C. surprised his family and friends by performing with 'The Assertion' as a part of the event's talent night. As the band made more appearances in clubs across the Sinnoh region, they began to gain even more popularity as an indie rock band by standing out from other bands due to their community service and dedication to a high quality of wellness, among other things.

Because he fit the mold for everything that the band represented, K.C.'s younger brother Corey was brought along to be the newest member. A top student in his class and skilled in playing instruments such as acoustic and bass guitar, the keyboard, and the drums, he also became the hype man and attention grabber for the band, introducing his brother and band mates for local gigs and then assuming his many roles for the band, including stirring up interest at local schools through charitable work.

While all of these positives brought him into the band, one glaring negative has caused Corey to be temporarily kicked out by his own brother in that he plotted to break up his sister's relationship with her girlfriend. Given a lot of time to think everything over, Corey felt that it wasn't worth it to go through plotting and scheming if it meant that he couldn't be a part of such a fun endeavor as the band. Corey also got something to think about from his own sister right after the family meeting.

_FLASHBACK_

_At about six o'clock in the evening, Corey found some time with Rocky alone near the wooded area of the property. Corey noticed that Rocky was standing near a tree, by herself and that she was not doing anything special outside of looking at her surroundings._

"_Hey Rocky?" Corey calls out to his older sister tentatively, "I'm sorry for telling everything to mom and dad like I did, but the fact is that we were in a jam. Zoey caught us, and…there's not much else we could do when we're caught."_

"_It's fine," Rocky says in a far-off manner. "It doesn't matter anyway. You heard what everyone said. I've caused so much—forget it, Corey. Just do what mom and dad said and do what Zoey said as well, and just leave her and Dawn alone. For their sake and ours, let's just stop."_

"_But Rocky, you said…"_

"_Fuck what I said, Corey!" Rocky interjects, raising her voice. "What I said and what I did was wrong. I thought I could have—you know what? Just do what I said and leave them alone. It's about…five of us here including ourselves that are vehemently against Zoey and Dawn being together, and we're outmatched by three or four hundred more people who are fine with it or could care less. I'm no Leonidas, but even if I were, at this point, I'd be throwing in the towel, like you should. I should go. We shouldn't be seen together."_

_As Rocky leaves her brother behind, Corey's perspective on the entire situation that led him to be tempted by his own sister to break up a budding romance remains rocky, no pun intended. While the band leader of the plot has now decided to concede to the wishes of the majority, Corey is still riding the fence for personal reasons, the main one being that Rocky made a lot of sense when she said that at times we have to be selfish in order to get what we feel we want, need or deserve in this world. _

_END FLASHBACK_

'Maybe,' Corey thinks to himself as he watches the clock shift to a time of 11:58 pm, 'maybe Rocky is right. Maybe we're outmatched here with the family. And Lord only knows what could happen to Rocky and I if it came out that we've still been trying to break up Zoey and Dawn. But no matter what…Zoey deserves somebody that won't break her heart because she decides to find some better looking guy due to the fact that she's not gay, I don't care _what_ anyone says, and I'll take that to the bank and the grave.'

Corey is bumped out of his thoughts when a loud guitar chord is played directly into a microphone as the clock's second hand makes its way around the right half of the clock, signifying the beginning of Saturday and the reunion.

Stepping up to the microphone, K.C. Neale speaks, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Baker-Neale family reunion and welcome to _The Assertion at the Point_!" to resounding cheers from the audience. K.C. continues by telling the watching and listening crowd, "Folks, for our first song, I'd like to say that this song is about someone truly special. We are all special in our own way, but…my sister Zoey should have her own picture in the dictionary. She's loving, kind, caring, and with her girlfriend, Dawn, I can honestly say I've never seen her happier than when the two of them are together, like right now," and K.C. points to the front of the crowd where Zoey and Dawn are sitting close to each other on a beach towel. After some light laughter from the gallery, Zoey begs K.C. to stop embarrassing her, though she can't help laughing herself. Getting back to business, K.C. continues, "Fans and most family of ours know this song by the name 'Snowpoint Sister' and I hope you all enjoy it!"

Stepping away from the microphone to do a count-off, K.C. cues the other members of the band with a call of '1,2,3,4,' before the beat of Nick's drums with very moderate guitar chords from K.C., and a smooth bass line from Caleb backs up Melinda's repetitious combinations on the keyboard.

15 seconds of each of these instruments playing one very unique harmony, before K.C. makes his way back to the mic to sing the lyrics.

_The girl she drives all night and plays all day_

_With a bright, white smile, does things her own way._

_Can't explain it. Can't maintain my equilibrium_

_When I see her, the kid, go out and just have some fun._

_Whether fast, or it's slow, through the highs and the lows_

_She just knows how to bring me down and make me sing_

_About this…she's all on her own, now. Older and grown, now_

_And I just have to say-y-y-y-y-y…_

_(Chorus)_

_To my Snowpoint sister!_

_I'm proud of you, girl!_

_How you're changing the world._

_It is just one of several ways_

_That I'd ever know to say_

_In my book…you're A-OK!_

'That part always gets to me,' Zoey thinks as the rest of the audience enjoys the musical ensemble. Zoey starts to cry once more. Unlike the other times during the day when she cried, Zoey is crying because she is happy knowing that members of her family, immediate or not still think so much of her, despite the fact that she loves differently.

Dawn got into the song so much that she didn't notice Zoey shed tears. Hearing someone sniffle, Dawn looks to the side of her to see Zoey in tears. "Are you alright?" Dawn asks concerned for her girlfriend.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Zoey answers, wiping away her tears. "I think this family reunion will be the best ever. You know why?"

"Why's that?" Dawn asks, with her attention entirely focused on Zoey.

"Even though we have Rocky, Corey, Kristen and my Aunt Sienna to contend with, I'm nevertheless thankful that just about the entire family is behind us. Maybe we don't have to fight much more," Zoey says, thought that statement is more or less based on her hopes. Dawn gives Zoey a hug and continues to hold on to her until the song ends with a resounding applause for _The Assertion_.

* * *

"Okay, Kelly," Solidad says to her friend. "I'm gonna ask you this one…last…time. Is there anyone else—_anyone else_ on this list?"

"No," Kelly replies, though the reply was arguably quick. "So…how many people are on the list?"

Rolling back the pages on her notepad, Solidad does some math on a clean sheet and counts every name on each paper that she used. Though it takes three minutes and several rechecks of names, Solidad comes to the final tally of, "Three hundred twenty-four. Three hundred…and twenty-four sexual partners over the last eight or nine years. Wow. Okay. Well, I promised I wouldn't judge you and I still won't." Checking her watch, Solidad exclaims, "Damn it's late. Could you give me a minute?"

"Go ahead," Kelly answers as she watches Solidad get up from her seat on the bed and make her way down the stairs. Making sure that Solidad was out of sight; Kelly grabs the pen and notepad and goes to the next sheet note paper. Knowing that she has some time, she turns back to look at a few of the names that she and Solidad have gone through. Getting a chuckle out of some of these names, including Grace, Marina, Whitney and Marley, she turns back to the blank sheet of paper. Placing Solidad's pen down onto the paper, she slowly and legibly writes the name 'Ryan Roderick' at the top.

"325," Kelly speaks with a high level of despondence, knowing what this sexual encounter caused for a family and the dream of just about every young girl as they grow up.

"Kelly?" Solidad calls from the other room as she comes back into Kelly's room. Hearing Solidad, Kelly acts quickly and puts the pen and notepad back where it was when Solidad left the room.

"Okay," Solidad begins. "Now that we have the names, I want you to tear all of the names with names out of the notepad and we'll go to the fireplace and burn them."

Kelly says "Okay," and then tears out the 10-12 notepad pages from the pad. Walking downstairs with Solidad right behind her, Kelly stands near the right side of the fireplace inside the den. Three seconds after Kelly takes her place on the left, Solidad stands to the right of the fireplace.

Looking to the younger woman next to her, Solidad informs her, "We should pray." Kelly nods her head and both women bring their hands together. With heads bowed and eyes closed, Solidad speaks to her deity above saying, "Dear Lord, we are thankful for this day and all the blessings that are provided with it. Lord, we're thankful for your sheep, Kelly, who today has chosen to come back to your flock and serve you and no others. Lord, we ask that this sacrament today be a representation of Kelly's desire to be a new and acceptable creature in your sight, as the past is learned from, but at the same time forgotten. And Lord, we also ask a special prayer for Kelly's parents, who are becoming one once more."

"Amen," Kelly speaks, slightly above a whisper. Turning to Solidad, she signals for Kelly to throw the pages into the fire. Opening the grate to the fireplace, Kelly throws the pages into the center of the flame. Solidad uses a poker near the fireplace to move one stray piece of paper into the fire. Kelly breathes in relief, as she sees that this stray sheet of paper is not the one with just one name on it. 'I dodged a bullet there,' Kelly thinks. 'I don't think I could explain Ryan's situation to Solidad right now.'

After a minute of watching the paper turn into soot and cinders, Solidad turns to Kelly and says, "Well, that did take quite a while!"

"Indeed," Kelly admits. "Did we get anything to eat at all?"

"No we didn't," Solidad answers. "So I'll order us a pizza. You know any good places?"

"No need to order out," Kelly explains to Solidad. "We'll just have the cook make one for us. Come on!" Kelly says as she leads her older friend out of the room for their midnight dinner.

* * *

A/N: This is the longest chapter of the series so far, and might I say, what a doozy! So many tears shed, so many emotions shared and many near hits and misses. There were revelations and great moments of clairvoyance. There was the search for atonement and the quest for acceptance.

All of these elements came together and formed this near 22,000-word chapter. And we now know that '325' is Ryan Roderick, but who is Ryan Roderick?

What will Forrest have to say to Brock and James? Why is Rocky giving up on her mission to break up Zoey and Dawn so easily and what makes Rocky detest Zoey so much at times? What does Corey have planned now that it looks like he's going at the break up plan alone? Will May be driven to the point of admitting everything to her loved ones? Will Drew reveal the news about Max and Misty's baby on the way?

Find out these questions and many, many more on the next chapter of 'A Confession Gone Awry'! Until then, it's been Rave!


	18. Reunion: Do You Remember When

A Confession Gone Awry

Zoey finds out in the worse way possible that her siblings Rocky and Corey sought to break up her and her girlfriend. Confronting the entire family, Zoey's parents lay down the line and say that no other monkey business will be allowed by anyone, including Zoey's Aunt Sienna.

The family reunion begins in earnest with activity from numerous conversations and dialogue from family members on the Baker side and the Neale side, including conversation about the Midnight Madness concert with K.C.'s band The Assertion.

The Maple family along with Drew visit Ash in the hospital. It is here that Max is finally able to talk to Misty, and they lay out the plans to tell his parents about her pregnancy on Sunday morning. Drew hears the conversation between Max and Misty and his assumptions on the truth behind their relationship are proven to be true.

Kenny calls up one of his old clients in May and he makes a sale worth several thousand dollars very quickly. After a conversation with Kelly, May is forced to confront facts about her relationship with her mistress. Feeling her life crashing down on her, May emotionally admits to her mom that she doesn't want to see Ash.

Kelly gives Solidad the names of 324 girls that she has had sexual relations with over the years. When Solidad leaves, Kelly puts one final name down on the paper in a Ryan Roderick. Solidad does not see this name as she and Kelly burn the list in the Mordetsky fireplace.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 18- Reunion Part 2: Do You Remember When)

* * *

The Baker-Neale family reunion is reaching its highest point of the weekend. Saturday morning is a time for enjoyment. Whether you are a young kid sitting in front of the television watching cartoons, a weekend warrior building a deck and patio, or a runner at five o'clock in the morning, Saturday morning is a time where people have the opportunity to do what they want to do.

For Dawn Berlitz, however, there is some confusion. In front of her at the moment are about twenty-five or thirty different clipboards sitting on top of a large table where people can sign up for various activities. The reason why she is so confused is that there is so much to do for the reunion. To name just a few of the goings on during the family reunion, people can participate in various games, shows, arts, crafts, and other contests where reunion goers can spend their time during the weekend.

There is just so much to do that Dawn has no clue where to start. Rubbing her chin and watching as various family and friends sign up for the different activities available, Dawn reaches for one of the pens on the table to sign up for something that she feels she could do and do very well. As she is about to sign under the clipboard with the title 'Karaoke' on top, she feels a pair of arms clasp her waist and a pair of lips kiss her left cheek.

"Have you decided what you want to do this weekend, Dawn?" this person asks the blue haired teen.

Turning to face the tomboy of her dreams and her reality, she responds, "I have a few ideas, but…I'll be damned if there isn't a lot to do here! I mean, this is a full blown event, Zoey! There's just so much!"

"Well, take your time," Dawn's girlfriend assures her. "You'll find something that I know you want to do here. Everyone always does."

"One thing does stick out, though. I noticed a—I guess it's a singing competition or karaoke night. That's the one thing that interested me the most."

"Singing, huh?" Zoey asks rhetorically. "Well, that's cool. Was there any reason why you thought about singing above everything else?"

"I like singing," she says laconically. Adding to her reasoning behind wanting to perform at the reunion, Dawn goes on to explain with a somewhat sly smile, "and…I had someone in mind that I wanted to sing to in front of everyone."

Raising her eyebrows for a moment, Zoey is all but sure of the answer to the question she is about to ask. Wondering out loud to Dawn just who she had in mind to sing to for karaoke night, her girlfriend can see right through Zoey. She sarcastically answers, "Well, I was thinking about singing a song to your cousin Kristen, because she is, like, so obsessed with me and what we do together." Dropping the act, she asks the redhead, "What the hell do you think, Zoey? I wanna sing to you. Who else would I sing to?"

"That's fine by me," she comments, "but I was thinking more of all the things that we could do together this weekend." Looking over at the clipboards once again, Zoey speaks, "I'm thinking of some of these games being a chance for us to work on our teamwork. I mean, yes we've trained together for Grand Festivals and the like, but we've never really been part of a team before until now. I thought it would be nice if we could do a few things together during the reunion. You mentioned karaoke, but did you notice the sack race, the three legged race, the egg race and those other races and games? We could do all of that together, Dawn!"

"Zoey, in all honesty, I thought about it and I wanted to do it, but I'm nowhere near as athletic as you are. And I smoke, so that doesn't really bode well for the lungs."

"You don't need to be an athletic dynamo to succeed in many of these competitions. Most of them require teamwork above anything else. By our mere…coming together as girlfriends, we are a team and if I had a choice, I'd want to do something _with_ you this weekend over doing something _for_ you. Because of this, we both benefit and not just one or the other."

Zoey just made some great points in Dawn's mind. While listening to conversations with her sweetheart's paternal grandparents, her aunts and her uncles all of them talked extensively about how they had the most fun or learned the most by doing things together and working as a team with their partner. Adman's parents even gave the Twinleaf native some advice when they told Dawn that she should spend as much time with Zoey as she possibly can.

While singing karaoke to her girlfriend is a very nice and charming idea, the games could be a great learning experience disguised as fun. Not being a naïve person by any means, Dawn knows that there are still people at the reunion who doubt the seriousness of the relationship that she and Zoey share. But she knows something else to be true.

"We don't need to talk about our love to people to let them know that this is real," Dawn says as more and more people line up to write their name on one of the many clipboards available. "We can show them. I'm not trying to say that we can get people to see that we're in love through a burlap sack race, but if they see how well we work together, that's got to have an affect on your family."

Walking over to the table and placing one of the pens in her right hand, Zoey asks, "So does that mean that I can sign us up as pairs for some of these?"

Dawn is convinced. She tells Zoey to put both of their names down as a team for five different events that will take place later on in the afternoon. After taking a minute to put down both of their names, Zoey lets Dawn know that she has to take care of something inside of the house for a moment and then she will come back outside so they can take part in the games.

Away from much of the commotion in the extensive backyard of the summer house are two teens talking about a different type of unity altogether.

* * *

"As of right now," the male in glasses says, "you're the only ally that I have. Rocky was willing to go all the way with this just yesterday, but she suddenly told me to stop. People think that I'm…some kind of an asshole and a bad brother for wanting to break up my sister and her girlfriend, but that's not true. That is not true at all. I just don't want Zoey…I want her to be with someone that won't break her heart if she ever decides that she wants to be with some other guy."

"Corey, stop it," Kristen interjects, holding her near hand up in the air while the two sit near a large tree on the beachfront property. "You know, cutting out the bullshit in your diet will do you a world of good. Everyone here and their mothers know that you have a crush on Zoey's girlfriend…"

"Who is not a lesbian, no matter what she says to the contrary," Corey addendums onto Kristen's remarks. "Zoey should be with someone who will love her completely and won't bail out on her for some other guy when times get rough and…yeah. I'll admit that I'm curious about Dawn. I've seen her for quite a while on television and I've heard about her through Zoey a lot. I feel that she should be with someone she belongs with who will return the feelings in kind. If she isn't gay and if she isn't bi, she has no business being with my sister, bottom line."

"I still don't understand how I factor into this or why I would even want to get involved."

"Dawn makes Zoey happy, doesn't she?"

"If by 'happy' you mean she's become more of a…female dog, then yeah." Corey silently cheers inside knowing that he has ignited the hatred that his older cousin has for the Neale family's middle child. "She's a happy little bitch if there ever were one. She thinks she's one of the guys by behaving the way she does, but she's not. She's always thought that way. I don't care what she does, she is a girl and girls should be with guys. That's how every surviving civilization has based its principles. That's a fact of life that she just doesn't get. We may not see eye to eye on…much at all, but if she keeps doing this, I see her getting hurt badly. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but…"

All of a sudden, Kristen finds herself in a position where she is unable to continue her rant against Zoey, as one of her younger cousins has literally fallen out of the sky and on top of her. In actuality, one of the Baker triplets Jillian, who had climbed the tree earlier, fell down while trying to get out and alert some of her other family members of the things Kristen has been saying. When Jillian fell out of the tree and onto Kristen, Corey immediately acted to get Jillian off of the older teen. Once all three got back onto their feet, Corey asks the obvious question, "How long were you up there, Jillian?"

"Long enough." Looking to her two older relatives, Jillian cannot believe the conniving attitudes held by both. While she knows that Kristen and Zoey are the equivalent of their family's Hatfields and McCoys, she didn't know that Corey would be so callous as to want Dawn for himself leaving his own sister heartbroken. Pointing a finger directly into the face of the bespectacled boy, the thirteen year old asks her cousin, "How can you look at yourself in the mirror knowing what you're doing? You may not agree with it like some people," she continues, turning her glaze back into the direction of Kristen, "but you have to respect it. Personally, I don't see the big deal. Yes, I suppose you could call me a Christian and that faith apparently goes against it, but not everyone is like me. Not everyone shares my faith, not everyone has the same opinion that I do, and not everyone sees happiness the same way I do, so I can't be ignorant of that."

Jillian continues, explaining to Corey, "I have two sisters that were born less than half an hour after I was. We're triplets and we _certainly _don't agree with everything each one of us does, but guess what? We still get along. My sisters would lose their lunch if they heard what you were saying about your own sister, Corey! Your own sister!"

"I don't need to stand here and take this," says Corey, who makes a move to walk away from the tree. Before he can get far, Jillian grabs him by his near arm and brings him back to her so they are now looking at one another eye to eye. "I may be a year younger than you are, but I'm no idiot. Dawn won't want a thing to do with you if you break her and Zoey up and she finds that you were responsible. This is going to cost you somewhere along the line."

"It already has," Corey responds. "K.C. kicked me off of the band's opening act for the weekend and I'm all but certain I won't be on stage for any more performances for a while…"

"Shouldn't that clue you in to something? Shouldn't that let you know that maybe this isn't the right way to go about this?" Jillian questions as Kristen attempts to excuse her way from their conversation. While Kristen tries to walk from the tree, her cousin has none of it, demanding that she stay and hear what she has to tell Corey. "Look you. I'll just say this and leave it at that. As much as Zoey says that what she shares with Dawn can last a long time and as much as a lot of us want her to be right, she just doesn't know and neither do we. No one does. Even if they do stay together a long time, you and Zoey have known each other longer and _cannot_ be broken apart because you are family. Just think about that for a second, Corey."

As a final, final word of advice, Jillian leans into Corey's left ear. As quiet as she can so that no one else can hear her, she whispers into her cousin's ear, "Don't fuck it up. Can you understand _that_?" With these parting words, Jillian leaves to have some fun with who she considers her true family and friends.

"Well, she's gone," Corey comments to Kristen. "Now, tell me again how mad Zoey makes you.

* * *

"I can't put my finger on what's been bugging her since last night," Drew admits while on his cell phone and sitting at the foot of the bed of the Maple guestroom. "I mean, we all have been affected by the whole situation with Ash a great deal, and it's caused me to think about…everything differently, including you. We all know that things haven't been the best for you that they could be, but we try not to dwell on the bad times. We just think about the good ones and take it all one day at a time. We try not to think of what we don't have and instead work on what we do have."

"Uh Drew? No offense, but could we not talk…"

"Oh, shit! My fault. That's my fault. I'm sorry. This conversation is about May, and I shouldn't have tried to make it about you. It's just that…she left the hospital in tears, she been on edge all week long and I…I really don't know what to do about it. I don't want to say that she needs help for fear that she'll lash out on me and tell me that I'm crazy, but at the same time, her welfare and her well being is concern number one in my eyes. The Grand Festival means a lot to her. It means a lot to any coordinator. It's the reason why we compete in contests; to become champions. Just like you dream of being a professional basketball player. You aim to become a champion in your trade."

"Yeah."

"Well, imagine if you were declared a champion after winning a big tournament against one of your biggest rivals. Say it were you up against…that standout player from Snowpoint City that you always talk about."

"Her name is Mikey, and she happens to be a very good friend of mine from summer basketball camp a year ago.

"Whatever, sis. Look, the point I'm trying to make is…let's just pretend that you were going into a big game and you ended up winning the game. Later on—let's say the following day, the officials look at game film and find a technicality that forces the game to be played over, and in that play over, you lose the game and the championship. You technically never won it because of the review. Wouldn't you be steaming mad? Wouldn't you want to throw things or go on a yelling, screaming, cursing tirade or even…hurt somebody because of it?"

The person, a young, female, teenage jock on the other end of the line, finds answering the question to be a difficult process as it requires more than a little bit of thinking from her end of the line. "Drew, it would have to depend on the magnitude of the event. If it's a regular game, it's no problem. We can make it up the very next night. But you talked about a championship. That's something that's not guaranteed in the least bit. Some of the great players in sport have never gone on to win championships. I might be pissed off or steamed, but at the same time, I have to respect the ruling on the court at the time.

"But…forgive me if I'm confused with how you worded your question. Don't mind me if something didn't come off right to me. I know that May can be very aggressive at times. Heck, for someone who works out as much as she does, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise. But we all know that May had it, and then Ash opened his mouth. One thing leads to another and now the Grand Festival now belongs to Dawn. It seems like all signs point to her and you're starting to…at least consider that rationale."

"I'm not trying to say that May did it," Drew clears. "Let me let you know that from the get go. We…we all know her alibi; she went for a walk to clear her head after finding out the news. There's no way she could've done it. I'm just saying…it's all screwed up, Ryan. I don't know. I just don't know. That's what I'm saying. I just hope that somewhere along the line, we can have a resolution of sorts and end this. I hope Ash can wake up and tell us what monster did this to him."

"Yeah, and for her sake, let's hope that May can find some sort of inner peace going through this as well."

"Ryan! Telephone!" a voice rings out inside of the quiet household. It's loud enough for Drew to hear from the other end of the line.

"That's mom. Well, tell her and dad that I'm doing fine in Petalburg and that I'll try my best to see what's been on May's mind. Talk to you later, Ryan."

"Good deal, Drew," she responds, telling her older brother that they'll talk later, hanging up her cell phone and picking up the house phone. Afterwards, she yells back downstairs to her mother to inform her that she's picked up the phone and can now hang up.

Bringing the receiver of the touch tone phone close to her mouth, she greets the person on the other line and is pleasantly surprised to hear, "Ryan, it's me, Mikey! What's up?"

"Oh, not too much, Mike. Hey, you might just get a kick out of this bit of news; your name came up in my latest conversation with my brother over in Petalburg."

"Oh, really? What kind of a conversation piece was I?"

"You were used in a scenario. He brought up basketball and asked me if the decision of a big title game were reversed against me, would I be mad."

"I hope you said 'yes', because with the way you play me on the court, you'd be steaming mad if one of the other players just looked at you the wrong way."

"Damn right," Ryan agrees. "But enough about that. It's his issue. We've got summer camp again in three weeks!"

"Yep, and I couldn't be more pumped up for it, either! I hope that you and I end up on different teams again. You're the only player on our amateur athletic squad last year that could give me a run for my money. I've got my cousin Tyson here in the Seafoam Islands for our big family reunion, but in reality, he's another one of the casual players. I pay them no mind out here. You, on the other hand, make me wanna train harder to become a pro."

"Oh, stop it. You're a natural born athlete, Mike. It's not as if you need me out there to ignite whatever engine is inside of you. If that _were_ the case, you wouldn't be great." A couple of seconds of silence and Ryan continues on another subject. "So you said that you're at your family reunion right now?"

"Yeah. We always throw big ones thanks to Zoey's wealth and a lot of people's imaginations. But, with all due respect to the family, I can't wait for this one to be over. After this, I go to summer camp with you, and that's when things really get serious. We go on to the junior leagues and really work at becoming pro in a few years."

"I wouldn't think of doing it with anyone else."

"Aw, that's…really sappy, Ryan. So those are my plans before summer camp. What about you?"

"Laying in my house and enjoying myself."

"Now, _that_ is my kind of plan!"

"Tell me about it!"

"I tell you, like I said, I like family reunions and what not, but they always remind me that I'm getting older. I hate sounding like my grandparents, but that's the way I feel. I mean, everywhere I look, I see the new couples and talk about having babies and starting—Ryan?"

On the other end of the line, Mikey's words became too much for her. The conversation made an unwelcome shift towards the subject of young children. Even though Ryan is fourteen years old like Mikey is and should not have to worry about having children or starting a family anytime soon, it still has a lasting effect on her. An incident from four years ago has caused these emotions to rise to the surface once again. Because of her curiosity and a feeling of desperation not knowing where else to turn, she has more than paid the price for her actions. Her punishment is that she can never have children for the rest of her life.

"Ryan? Girl, are you alright?"

"Mike, I'm sorry," Ryan replies. Through her tears, she says, "I'm sorry but I have to go."

"Was it something I said?"

"No, Mike. It's not you, it's me. It's all my fault," she claims over the phone. "I gotta go. I'll call you back, Mikey." Hanging up the phone, Ryan reaffirms her guilt in this entire situation stating once more, "This is all my fault."

* * *

A few knocks on the door, and Jo-Jo tells the person on the other side, "Come in, Zoey." Immediately, her daughter enters the room to find her parents and oldest sister sitting around the bed. The first thing Zoey notices when she comes inside of the master bedroom is Rocky with her head down. This conversation between the four had been in the works since late last night. Adman suggested it when he saw the apparent pain on Rocky's face during the family meeting on Friday. This time, however brief it may be, is for both Rocky and Zoey to open up and just talk.

Once Zoey sits down with her parents and sister, Adman explains to his middle child, "Okay, Zoey. Your mother and I thought it would be a good idea for you and Rocky to just talk. If either of you want, we can leave the room, but…whatever is bothering you two has to be let out in the open in someway. You can't hold this grudge between you forever!"

"I'd…actually like to speak with Zoey alone, if either of you don't mind," Rocky speaks, quiet like a mouse.

Adman has no issue with the request, because he wants both of his daughters to be as comfortable as possible for the process. In this instance, he doesn't mind catering to the request so long as Zoey doesn't have any issue. "Zoey. Is it alright if your mother and I leave the room for now? It's up to you."

If not for anything else, Zoey would just like to some sort of resolution with Rocky. In her mind, it's long overdue and there's no better time than the present to make it happen. "That's fine by me," she answers and with this affirmation, Jo-Jo and Adman make their exit from the bedroom leaving Rocky and Zoey to solve their own issues at hand.

As the door to the master bedroom closes and Rocky and Zoey are one on one, Rocky immediately tells her sister, "Zoey, I don't know how many more times I have to tell you that I'm sorry and that I was wrong. I thought I could get rid…forget it."

"No, Rocky!" Zoey exclaims, taking a mighty stand against her sister's apathy. "Don't 'forget it'! Now is not the time to forget it. If you want to make things right between us, you won't just forget it, because right now, I don't think much of you or Corey. I meant it when I said earlier that we were closer than any sisters I know. I want that back, Rocky! Just tell me how I can do it?"

"You can't."

"Why the fuck not?"

"We're two different people, Zoey. We just happen to be family."

"That's not true, Rocky, and you know it. It's not naïve of me to want us to be close like when we were kids. Don't you remember? When mom and dad were busy, you'd take me out to eat. We'd roller-skate together and you'd buy me ice cream or cotton candy from a local stand. It was the little things that I loved the most. If nothing else, you spent time with me and…I miss that."

Rocky remembers those times well, including one detail in particular. Bringing her head up to face Zoey for the very first time in their meeting, she adds, "I remember roller-skating. After the first trial run, I finally realized that we had to eat _after_ we roller-skated or did anything physical." This gets both sisters chuckling for the first time together in a long time.

Cooling down from her laughter, Zoey explains to Rocky, "Yeah, this is what I'm talking about. I want to go back to the good times, Rocky. I want us to go back to the days before I came out. It seems like…something happened three or four years ago when I told you all that I'm gay…and we just drifted apart for what seemed like no reason."

There is just no arguing with Zoey in Rocky's mind. When she thinks about it, she and her older sister are a lot alike. Both love what they do for a living very much. Both have taken their time being the apple in the eyes of their parents, and for many years, they have dealt with feelings that they just cannot explain. Every member of the family now knows that Zoey's romantic attractions are to the same sex, but very few if any know how alike both sisters are.

_FLASHBACK_

"_And the Prince and Cinderella had a grand wedding. And they lived happily ever after. The end," reads twelve-year-old Rocky while rolling her eyes at the typical fairy tale romance that she's reading to her sister for her bedtime story. 'Well, they don't call it a 'fairy tale' for nothing,' she thinks before asking four year old Zoey, "So what did you think, Zoey?"_

_With eyes drooping and sleep very much on the mind of the young girl, Zoey replies, "I thought it was a good story. I liked how Cinderella stood up to her stepsisters. I wish I could do the same to Kristen, but Rocky?"_

"_Yeah, Zoey?"_

"_This might seem like a…stupid question, but why is it that every story you, mommy or daddy read me has a boy getting together with a girl? I don't want to ask either of them because I don't want to hurt their feelings."_

"_Hurt their feelings?" Rocky asks in confusion. She is confused not just because of her sister's reasoning but because here her sister was talking about same-sex relationships. Rocky never thought that she would have this kind of talk with her younger sister before tonight, and the thought made her more than a bit uncomfortable. "Domi, what are you talking about?"_

"_Well, they are a boy and girl and they got together. I don't want to make it seem like something special for a boy to be with a boy or a girl to be with a girl. We're different, but we're all still the same."_

"_What do you mean, 'we'?"_

"_All of us, Rocky! You know, for an older person it takes a long time for you to get something. If you love someone, shouldn't that be enough?"_

_Rocky is now very uncomfortable as she gets deeper and deeper into her conversation with her younger sister. The truth is that Rocky has had these same feelings for a while. As a youngster, a few years older than her sister, she has had to privately deal with her orientation. Through many tears, she has all but come to terms with the fact that she may be a lesbian. Again, she never thought that she would have a conversation with her four-year-old sister about this that _she_ started. Rocky just has to ask her. "Zoey, where is all of this coming from?"_

"_I was watching the news with mommy a few days ago. They were talking about…gay marriage. Some adults were making this big fuss about it, and I just don't see why. Adults always think they know everything."_

"_Kiddo," Rocky interjects, getting very nervous while listening to her sister. "You don't need to worry about that for a long, _long_ time. Just go to sleep. I'll just say that…you're right. Grownups make a big fuss about a lot of things that they really shouldn't, but you know something? So do kids. Arguments for whatever reason can bring out the worst in people. But you can't let that get you down at all. You're never too old to act like a child, but at the same time you're never too young to be mature. You just have to be the better girl. Be the best Zoey that you can be and that's all that will matter. You understand?"_

"_I guess," she answers with sleep very prevalent in her eyes._

"_Atta girl!" Rocky applauds giving Zoey a kiss on her forehead. "Good night. I love you, Zoey. Sweet dreams."_

"_I love you too, Rocky," Zoey says before closing her eyes and starting her trip on they way to dream land._

_END FLASHBACK_

That night twelve years ago would mark the first of many surprises that Zoey would give her oldest sibling as the years continued onward. Ever since then, Zoey has served to be at one time or another, an inspiration to her older sister, a pain in the backside, a source of great confusion, sadness, regrets and moments of utter despair.

But in the back of her mind, she wonders if things could have been different given the circumstances. "Zoey. I wanna ask you something."

"What's that, Rocky?" she attentively asks, interested that her sister wants to make conversation.

"I don't know if you can remember about twelve years ago. We had a conversation after I read you the bedtime story of Cinderella. Then you asked me why stories always ended with a boy and a girl getting together."

"Really? No freaking way!" Zoey exclaims. "I asked that when I was four? Damn. I wish I could remember that! If that's true, then I probably knew that I was gay for a long time!"

"You—you mean you don't remember that? You don't remember sitting down with mom when she watched a newscast talking about same-sex marriage? You don't remember telling me this at all?"

"No. Like you said, I was only four years old."

'Okay, maybe that didn't play any factor,' Rocky thinks as she continues in her conversation. "I know things have been hard for you. More than you think."

"Are you kidding me?" Zoey interrupts. "Things have been hell. I may not have been completely out at the time, but there are people that can tell and I had to deal with a lot of crap because of it. Not to mention the paranoia that I had thinking that someone would let out my secret. I didn't need that at the age of thirteen, Rocky." After telling her sister this, tears begin to come down Zoey's face. "What I did need was the support of my family, and God bless them, I got it, but not completely. Yes you said that you were fine with it, but I'm still not sure if that's the case. Even when I told you that I was in a relationship with May Maple, you only told me that that was nice."

"Now wait a minute!" Rocky says, going on the defensive. "I told you that I thought May was too old for you. I thought you knew that that's how I felt about it! I knew about May being bisexual and didn't mind it. I just felt that with your age and her age, it wouldn't be a great match. I'm happy to know that I was proven wrong, but that's how I felt."

"And I told _you_, Rocky," Zoey rebuts, "that May wasn't much of a girlfriend in retrospect. She helped me understand what I was going through as a gay teenager. She was a mentor to me. I think I was fortunate to have that growing up. Not too many people have that luxury or someone that willing to lend a helping hand."

In Rocky's mind, Zoey is speaking very prophetically. She says as a means of defending her actions, "I would have given you all the help I could have and I did talk while you were on the road during that time. But given the situations during that time, you have to admit that there is only so much that I could do. I was working. _You_ were working. We were sometimes thousands of miles apart. "

"If that's the case, Rocky and you wanted to give me all the help you could, why do you have such a big problem with Dawn? Again, life can be shit at times for me, but Dawn makes me happy. Why would you or Corey or Aunt Sienna or anyone stand in the way of that? Religion? Jealousy? Accusations and hearsay? Forgive me if they all sound like excuses to me."

"Okay, you make a good point," Rocky concedes. Emotion begins to take its toll on the oldest Neale sibling as she finally decides to admit what she's held inside for so long. The question of her sisterhood with Zoey is what finally did Rocky in. "Okay, maybe I haven't been the best big sister, and a lot of that is my fault. But…there is something that made me resent you over the past few years. You…are very brave to live in this world given your situation. You're braver than I'll ever be and because of that, I resented you. I guess you reminded me to much of myself."

Not understanding what Rocky is talking about, Zoey asks, "What do you mean?"

"I could've been that influence in your life if I ever got my head on straight," Rocky says through ever increasing tears. "If I had a tenth of your courage, I could have been a better influence than May Maple was for you. I wanted to be if I could have told people…" and Rocky leaves her words open ended for her sister to question what she's saying.

"What?" Zoey inquires. "Things would have been different if you could've told people what?"

Sniffling before giving off a slight chuckle, Rocky cannot believe her sister doesn't understand what she's trying to tell her. "You know, for an older person, it takes a long time for you to get something."

"Huh?"

"Zoey…I'm gay," Rocky states laconically.

Eagerly anticipating whatever reaction Zoey gives her, Rocky waits for some kind of response, whether it is verbal or nonverbal. Attempting to read her sister's face, Rocky can't find anything outside of a pair of widened eyes and a mouth big enough to fit one of the hero sandwiches that are being served just outside. Finally, Zoey shuts her mouth. It appears she is opening it again. Listening for whatever she has to say, Rocky has all eyes and ears on the teen. Opening her mouth again, only one word escapes her mouth.

"What?"

* * *

In a portion of the backyard where all of the smokers appear to have congregated for the family reunion, Dawn finds two people of interest. Walking over to where the older lady and gentleman are sitting, she says hello to them and asks if she could sit down and join them. Both of them say yes and after sitting down next to the two, she lights her stick and takes in a few draws of the burned plant.

After less than a minute of tending to her cigarette, she says to the older couple before her, "I just want to…thank you both for supporting me and Zoey. I had a feeling that Jo-Jo's parents would be fine with it, and I'm happy to know that I was right."

"Well, like my daughter, I want this reunion to go off without a hitch," explains one half of the elders, Jonathan Baker. "I want everyone to just focus on having fun, which is what this time should be about. I realize that there is a lot of…controversy with this. I just don't think that the family reunion is the time for people like Sienna to dredge up things that you and Zoey have probably heard ad nauseum."

"And keep this in mind," Jonathan's wife Naomi adds, "yes, all of us are Christian, but there are a few things that many Christians forget. We were not placed on this Earth to judge the world, rather love the people that are in it. Sienna likes to wave the banner of our faith, and I think that's good, but she has to realize that…nobody's perfect, including her. If it isn't one thing that causes our flaws in this world, then it's most certainly another. If you're not gay, then you're lying to the people that you love. If you aren't stealing, then you might be reading a 'Harry Potter' book, but not actually practicing witchcraft. Do you know what I'm trying to say, Dawn?"

"I think I've heard it before," she admits. "It has something to do with casting the first stone only when you are free of sin."

"Exactly," the Baker's respond in unison. Jonathan then continues, "Now, we probably aren't gonna be waving any rainbow flags in the near future, but that doesn't mean that we're for any bashing. We support Zoey a great deal, even if she does goes against the grain. I don't feel like hurting her because of something she feels so strongly for. If that's the case, every gay Christian is at risk. Even bishops in our denomination and others, are at risk. I think it's a waste. We're all sinners. Oh, forgive me for turning this conversation into a pious lecture, Dawn."

"Oh, no! No!" she assures Jonathan. "It's okay! Honestly, you're making a lot of sense. Even if you aren't a religious person, morals and ethics say the same thing. And…sad to say it, but people still don't want to just talk about it. Nobody wants to talk about it at all. People wanna yell, condemn, put down and bash, but few people really want to just talk. People are afraid to talk about this because they don't want their opinions to be changed or their beliefs to be questioned in an open and honest nature. They're like that guy that was in the White House that was like, 'We don't talk to our enemas.'" This comment draws a resounding laugh from both Jonathan and Naomi along with the comment from the Baker matriarch that she's glad the person Dawn just referred to is long gone, as well.

"I like you, Dawn," Jonathan comments while smoking the remnants of his tobacco down to nothing.

"Well, that's a relief."

"No, I'm serious. You're a very positive person. I can tell by looking at you that you don't let things get you down, and we need more people like you in this world. Zoey needs someone like that in her life, and thank…thank God that she has it," he says with a small amount of hesitation. "Quite frankly, when I've seen Zoey over this past day or so, she just has this…glow. I know you have something to do with that, Dawn, and I don't think that it's a good idea for anyone to stand in the way of that. Again, it's your lives. At the end of the day, it's your life and it's Zoey's life and if she doesn't want to stop this, she won't. Bottom line."

Dawn is amazed. While she is all but certain that Jonathan and Naomi Baker have lived most of their lives based on tradition and strong family unit according to their religion, they are at the same time the most accepting of her relationship with their granddaughter.

"Again, thank you both," she says. "I may not be a religious person, but I can tell; you two are really blessed to see people instead of things. Plus, it's good to have some more friends here that understand."

* * *

The bell on the door of the store that he just left rings a few times before shutting behind him. He just had to get out of the house if for no more than a few minutes. Being around his sister, her girlfriend and his parents would just trigger far too many emotions to handle at one time.

And then he thought about his parents again.

The word 'parent' rang in his head. In less than eight months, it will be the one thing which he will have in common with his mother and father aside from blood. It didn't have to be this way. He's heard every excuse in the book. I was careful. I never meant for this to happen. Truth be told, he has no excuse. He should not have been having sex, unprotected or otherwise, with someone eight years his senior. Because of his actions, he will be a father before he ceases becoming a teen.

Max is taking responsibility despite the pickle he finds himself in right now. Looking at the small bag in his right hand, he sees the first step to him stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility for his actions however irresponsible they may be. Inside of the bag is the first gift that he has bought for his unborn child. Inside are one pair of light pink, pastel booties and one pair of sky blue ones as well.

He's prepared for whatever happens from this point forth.

* * *

A/N: Stay tuned for more in the next chapter. It's storylines aplenty as we delve deeper into the Pewter City gym's affairs along with more Ash Ketchum and some revelations from Kelly and May (but not necessarily together).

Until then, this is Rave!


	19. Reunion: Information in Action

A Confession Gone Awry

As Dawn and Zoey spend a good portion of Saturday morning together, they look over all of the different activities that they can do and decide to do some things together during the reunion. Zoey leaves Dawn alone to take care of something in the house. While in the house, Dawn talks to Zoey's maternal grandparents Jonathan and Naomi Baker. Even though they are not entirely for their relationship, they support their granddaughter's decision and feel that Dawn will be really good for Zoey.

Corey is again faced with roadblocks in his plan to break up Zoey and Dawn alone. Knowing the animosity that Zoey and her cousin Kristen have shared for the past decade, he attempts to have her be a part of his plans. Listening from the top of a tree, their cousin Jill shows her disdain with Corey and warns him not to try anything that will ruin his relationship with family members.

Drew talks to his sister, Ryan Roderick about the problems he faces with May. Later that morning, Ryan gets a call from friend and fellow basketball player Mikey Neale. Talking about everything from family reunions to summer basketball camp, the conversation turns to young children. This triggers tears from Ryan because she is unable to have children due to an incident several years ago. Max gets his first gift for his baby on the way.

Rocky and Zoey have a conversation one on one. In this conversation, Rocky slowly but surely opens up to her younger sister when she talks about how difficult it has been for her growing up as a lesbian. Rocky recollects on a moment the two shared twelve years ago and they continue to talk. Going deeper into their conversation, Rocky reaches a breaking point and decides to reveal a shocker to end all shockers. She tells Zoey that like her, she is gay.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 19- Information in Action)

* * *

It has been ten…fifteen…she isn't quite sure how many seconds have passed since she heard it from her older sister's lips. It did not sound like the Rocky Neale that she knew at all. For as long as she has known her twenty-four-year old sister, she has never shown any inklings of same-sex attraction, but here and now she's telling Zoey that she's gay. It just didn't make any sense to her at all. Rocky has dated several guys over the years. She went to the prom with a guy and while in college, she always talked about being with another guy or guys on the phone.

"What?" she asks Rocky in total shock. For Zoey, everything might as well be standing still. As she ponders the two words in even greater detail, none of the activity outside involving the family reunion matters to her at the moment. None of the occurrences inside of the house matter to her as much as breaking down and understanding this revelation from her sister. "You're—you're a lesbian?"

"Yeah, I am," Rocky answers with some hesitation in her voice but nowhere near the amount from earlier.

"Oh my God," Zoey exclaims. There are so many questions that she wants to ask her sister that she has no idea where to begin. When she wanted to talk to Rocky, she had no clue that things would take this very sharp and unexpected turn.

Thinking it over after interrupting her sister a couple of times, Zoey ponders the first thing she will ask Rocky. It takes a while to come to her, but when she decides on this question, she feels that it will naturally lead to the other questions that she is sure are on her mind, but are coming to her at the moment.

The question that Zoey would like Rocky to answer first is, "How long have you known?"

For Rocky, it is a sensible and reasonable question. She knew that letting Zoey know about this would open the door for even more discussion. "Well, I think I've known since I was about…twelve or thirteen years old. It might have even been before then that I definitely knew that something was…different about me compared to the other girls. I don't think I've ever been particularly interested in the opposite sex, but knowing that not many people would like this, I…faked it for a long time."

"Have you _ever_ been with another girl before?"

"Well if by 'been with' you mean dated? Yeah, I have actually. I…dated both guys and girls during college, and I felt that the environment was far more accepting of my situation. While people asked me if I was gay or straight, it never became much of an issue. So by the end of college, I started to date fewer guys and tell more people that I'm gay. If by 'been with' you mean…something else, then yes. I'm…not a virgin if you're wondering."

The awkwardness of such a question combined with the silence of Rocky in the hopes that she could get some sort of reaction from her sister causes the older sibling to chuckle for a bit before she asks, "Well?"

"Well?" Zoey returns, "I don't know. I've never had sex, which is the honest to God truth. I don't know the feeling, but everything I've hear or read says it's indescribable."

"Have you ever thought about it?"

"Hell yes, I've thought about it, Rocky!" Zoey answers. "I'm a teenager who's pretty damn sure she's in love. I just think that I'd be violating mom and dad's trust if I do it and I'm already somewhat in the doghouse after…never mind."

"Wait, Zoey! What do you mean you're in the doghouse with mom and dad? Did you do something…?"

"Just…" Zoey counters "don't worry about it. Mom and dad told me to just leave it in the past and don't worry about it and that's what I'm damn well gonna do."

"But you said that you we're curious about sex and then talked about getting into some kind of trouble…"

"Rocky, please!" Zoey says, almost begging for her to change the subject. Although they have been talking for a while and have been opening up to each other about things that they feel are important, Zoey is just not ready to let Rocky know about her and Dawn not only sleeping together in the same bed, which will start again by this evening, but the fact that they have had some nude play, for lack of a better term. "Just…I'm not ready to tell you this yet. I was just a stupid mistake on my part that I won't make again, or I'll _really _be in big trouble. I haven't had sex, like I told you, but…I won't say I'm too young for it. The problem is that Dawn and I haven't even been together for a week. What would that say of us?"

"So you never had sex with May or anyone else before Dawn?"

"No, I have not."

"Good for you." With her tone becoming more melancholy and somber, Rocky admits, "I somewhat regret doing it because not that long after we had sex, she left to transfer to another school. It's…not even worth mentioning who it is because I've moved on. I want you to wait, Zoey, because once you find that special person, that moment becomes exponentially better."

"You didn't say Dawn's name."

"She may not be that special person. Am I right?"

"Oh my God, don't tell me that you still have a problem with Dawn, do you?"

"Look Zoey, you're still a teen! I'm not saying that it can't work, but…it's all a matter of trust."

"I trust Dawn, Rocky!" Zoey defends. "Yeah, it may not last forever, but I can't help but want to give it a shot! I believe in her. She wouldn't lie to me about anything!"

"Do you really believe that?"

"Oh, hell no! Not this fucking bullshit again!" Zoey laments. "Rocky, enough and I mean enough. I've had enough of your disrespect to Dawn over the past several days. You keep talking about her past and saying that she's bad news and using all of these innuendos, and none of it works. Why? Because I don't care! I don't give a fuck about it! It's nothing more than a waste of your breathing air because whatever you tell me doesn't mean anything. I'm still gonna be with Dawn because I love her. I don't wanna hear another fucking word about it! It's done. Now with that said…I have another question for you; did the fact that I came out to everyone cause you to become so distant over the last three years or so?"

"It did," Rocky admits with no problem. That's one thing that Rocky can't lie about as Zoey figured it out with no problem. "I thought I could hide it. The thing is that seeing my little sister say that she's gay when she's barely a teenager and not be afraid of the consequences caused me to dislike myself. I wanted to be brave just like you and I…couldn't. I just couldn't muster the courage to let people know. The fact is that I regret not having your…spunk and determination. If I did, I would have come out before you and I know that things would have been much easier for you than they were."

It is at this point that Rocky begins to tear up and cry. Though opening up with Zoey is the type of progress that she needs in order for the two to move on and have a better relationship with each other, no one could prepare her for how painful the process would be. She had a feeling that it would not be a walk in the park, but she at least felt that things would not be so taxing on every part of her body and her soul. "Things should not have been as hard for you as they were. I should have reached out, but I was afraid of myself to the point that I withdrew. That should have been a turning point for me."

"But it was," Zoey interrupted. "It just wasn't the type of turning point that you or I would have wanted in hindsight. Things would have been better for both of us."

"Yeah, but more for you, Zoey. If I were a better big sister to you, none of this would have happened. I suppose that when…you brought Dawn to the house on Monday, I thought I could finally get the chance to be the sister I should have been. Zoey, I beg of you to hear me out…"

"If it has to do with Dawn, I don't wanna hear it," Zoey speaks.

"Please Zoey, just think about it! Why would I have to lie about this? I've already told you that I'm gay! What else is left?" Rocky asks her sister.

Zoey listens to what Rocky just said. Whatever her sister has to say, she doesn't necessarily have to believe it. She can say whatever she wants. Her oldest sister is no saint and has never claimed to be one. Her word does not necessarily fall under the umbrella of professed gospel.

She didn't want to admit it, but Zoey didn't want her perception of her girlfriend to be changed by anyone. This was the reasoning behind defending Dawn in any situation and attempting to work out whatever problems the couple faced. For as long as she has known Dawn, she has always seen a happy-go lucky, worry free girl. Though she has seen more of Dawn over this past week than in the other five or six years beforehand, she still has some fears.

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that Dawn Berlitz is a very attractive young woman who has likely been wooed by other guys and perhaps other girls as well. Though other people might consider her to be paranoid for having these thoughts, she did have a great fear of losing Dawn for whatever reason. This is why she has shot down any of the dirt that Rocky claims that she has on her girlfriend. Though she knows better, she can't help but be afraid of what her sister knows. Rocky doesn't have any reason to lie given the fact that she has told truths about herself that no one else in her immediate family knows about. She knows that confronting whatever information exists like Rocky has done concerning her orientation will be positive for her like it has been for her older sister.

That settles it. If nothing that Rocky tells her will effect her relationship with Dawn, it's not worth it for her sister to keep this big secret inside. "Okay, Rocky. You win. Just what is it that Dawn has been hiding from me for so long?" she asks in a very distant and uninterested tone.

"Okay, Zoey," Rocky says. "Just…you can't tell anyone about this."

"Why not?"

"Because…remember, I'm a journalist. I'm held to ethics and those ethics say that I have to keep things that are considered 'off the record' a secret. If anyone that knows that I squealed, then my reputation comes into serious question."

Rocky is absolutely spot on. Every time that Zoey hears Rocky talk about stories in the pokemon world happening, she says that not every piece of information is out there in the news as of yet and that many things that are forming the story are not for the media or the public to know at that moment in time. "Okay. No problem. No one will know and I will handle this…however I want."

"I'd expect nothing less than that from you. Now…" Rocky begins. She asks her sister, "Do you remember a pokemon coordinator named…Kenny Dalton?"

"Kenny? Oh yeah, I remember him. He did pretty well when he started out, but I don't know what happened afterwards. For whatever reason, he got involved with people overseas in…South America. I'm not even sure anymore, but he got really deep into the underground drug culture and he got involved with a group called Fifth Avenue or…"

"It's called Avenue Five, Zoey," Rocky corrects. "Other than that, all of what you said is correct. Kenny had connections with the group since he was either twelve or thirteen years old. I did research around this time and I found that his coordinating took a great downturn since he started. I think that getting so close to the Grand Festival in his first two years made him think that it was easy and he relaxed in his training. When it didn't come as easily for him, he became very irritable and very mean to reporters or media of any sort."

"I remember all of this. I just don't know how this involves Dawn."

"I'm almost there, Zoey," Rocky assures her sister. "Dawn reached out to Kenny during this time. I don't know if it was a romantic relationship or what, but I'm almost sure that it was because for almost a year they traveled together."

"Now, I _did_ hear about that. This was during the time I was traveling through the Kanto region and she was in the Orange Islands. At that time, if I recall correctly, I got very jealous of Kenny. This was around the time I began to sort out my feelings. I still stayed in touch with Dawn as much as I could, but as she got deeper into her coordinating there, I heard less and less from her. Then…she had this accident, went to rehabilitation and I lost contact with her for several months."

"Accident?" Rocky asks in confusion. Had Dawn crafted a complex web of lies dating all the way back to when Zoey sorted out her feelings? Sighing, Rocky thinks that this will be a lot worse than she could have ever thought. "Zoey, you may not like what I'm about to say, but… trust me when I say that it's true. It's all true." Holding the hands of her younger sister, Rocky prepares Zoey for the truth. "Dawn Berlitz was never in any type of physical accident and in rehabilitation. Dawn Berlitz was in drug rehab during that time."

"What?" Zoey exclaims jumping out of her seat as if there were a hot shot on it. "Drug rehab?"

Getting up from her seat just like her sister before her, Rocky tries to calm things down in the room. "I know it's hard to believe, sis, but…"

"Hard to believe?" she questions. "Drug rehab? How? Dawn was only thirteen years old!"

"Even though Kenny was the only one convicted of drug offenses during that time, they had to have done it together, Zoey. Think about it! His association with Avenue Five lasted a year, which is the same length of time that Dawn was with Kenny. They did drugs; dealt drugs…until they got busted. Dawn was arrested, but she was fortunate because she had no association with Kenny other than the possibility that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. She didn't plea bargain…and she testified before his criminal trial. No evidence ever pointed to her knowing about this with the exception of Kenny's word. There weren't any fingerprints, she never met any other Avenue Five operatives and she didn't associate with any organizations that were known to deal drugs. But…again given the situation, Dawn was in a great spot. She played the role of the innocent girl caught in a web by a deceptive boyfriend to the hilt. The people who interrogated her believed her, but not that long after Kenny's trial, she went to drug rehab. Why would she have to do that unless…"

"No," Zoey counters while in tears. While she can verbally deny anything she wants with that simple two-letter word and magically pretend that nothing is wrong, it is very difficult for her to do that and sound convincing when her sister is making a lot of sense with her story. Even more sense than Zoey's girlfriend. Rocky's words cleared up many holes that Zoey didn't want to talk about with Dawn but now that they are in the open, they make the entire Kenny/Dawn scenario even more of a sorry episode. "It can't be true. Dawn wouldn't do anything like that. What…why would she even want anything to do with Kenny if she knew about this? Why would she take drugs with that sack of shit? It doesn't…I don't fucking get it!" She says before falling to the ground in a sobbing and wailing heap.

It is now Rocky's job to be the big sister. Walking up to Zoey, who is wrapped in a near-fetal position, she wraps her arms around her little sister and whispers into her ears to let her know that it's okay and to let it all out. "I'm really sorry you had to hear this, Zoey, but everything is true. All of what I'm saying is in grand jury testimony. That's why you didn't hear anything about it because those files are virtually padlocked and _anyone_ that reveals them in the press is in big trouble. Kenny, Dawn and anyone else who testified is held to a gag order; otherwise they will go to jail. This is why I didn't trust Dawn. Yes she might have cleaned herself up and yes she might have gotten herself back together, but with…addicts or just users, you never know."

"This is—I don't know," Zoey blubbers. "How could she keep this from me, Rocky? It doesn't make any sense. I thought we had no secrets between each other!"

"Zoey, believe it or not, I'm gonna defend Dawn in this instance," Rocky soothes. "She had a gag order, remember? She couldn't say anything or everything _would_ be out in the open for the world to see!"

"But that makes it sound like she didn't trust me to keep this between us! We're supposed to be a committed couple! Why would she lie?"

"Why would _anyone_ lie about substance abuse?" Rocky assertively responds. "Because they're embarrassed. Because they don't want their reputations to be put into question even by the people they love. It's not so much that they want to lie as much as they feel that it's a need. Remember Zoey, reputations live forever. They live long after a person has died. I'm sure Dawn thought about that, and it wasn't necessarily about hurting you by lying about her troubles with the law. She's kept this secret _long _before you and her came together. I don't think she meant to hold this in until her dying day. I guess she was just determined to let nothing stand in the way of…true love, including her past. The more I think about it, I guess…the more I realize that the only people that will keep you and Dawn separated and apart are the two of you."

Turning Zoey around to face her, Rocky continues, "Look, just…take your time with this. I know it's a hard pill to swallow to learn this about someone you love. If you go directly to Dawn with what you know, she'll wonder where you learned everything and you would have to tell her something."

After a few seconds of silence, Rocky is wondering just what Zoey is thinking. To hear something so traumatic about a person you love would have to have some kind of effect, but all that Rocky has heard from her sister is her emotion. She is still crying, but the oldest child of the Neales is curious as to what lies beyond and beneath her sister's tears.

"What are you thinking about, Zoey?" Rocky questions.

"I…I don't know," Zoey admits while wiping away her tears and looking very downtrodden. "It—nothing seems like it was anymore."

"Do you regret me telling you this at all?"

"No," Zoey says, no longer shedding tears at the moment. "I asked for it, and…this is what I got. You're right. You don't have any reason to lie. You told me that you're a lesbian and explained how your feelings came about. You don't have any real reason to lie. I don't blame you for wanting to keep me from Dawn and not really explaining why given the situation…I understand."

"Wait a minute, Zoey," Rocky interjects. "Now I know that you have a lot on your mind. If I had any words of advice, I'd say don't make any rash decisions. You're upset and…as much as you deserve to know the truth, I don't like it. I didn't want to say anything because of this. Bottom line, because I knew about Dawn's past, I wanted you away from her and did my best to protect you. For once, I actually tried to be the big sister but when I knew I couldn't break you two up, that's when I knew that this was more than just a simple fling. Would you rather talk this out with Dawn and hear her reasoning? Personally, I think that would be for the best. Who knows? She might have even more reason for keeping this for so long."

* * *

"Are you sure that he'll say yes?"

"There's only one way to find out, brother," answers Avenue Five operative Andre. Over the past day, Kenny has been on the phone almost nonstop in an attempt to get deals and orders in place. While he got a lot of help from his large deal to May valuing at over 65,000 dollars, he was able to place several other orders over the course of yesterday and early today totaling in excess of 100,000 dollars in sales. From all of these sales, Kenny will get a commission of twenty-five percent, which will give him over twenty-five thousand dollars for him to spend.

The problem that arises is that he will not be able to get this money for at least two weeks. He needs the money in order for him to put his plan into motion. Blaming Dawn for his incarceration, he would like nothing more than to get some money and buy a ticket for either a bus or a plane out of Rustboro City and into Twinleaf Town. From there, he will go to Johanna's house and find out her daughter's whereabouts. If need be, he will use force, but he has decided once and for all to make Dawn pay for selling him up the river nearly three years ago.

Right now, knowing that the money that he will receive won't come to him right away, he has scheduled a meeting with the head of the Avenue Five management for the Rustboro branch. He plans to ask for an advance on his commission. It is his hope that with his past reputation of being able to turn successful deals and give the offices a great profit that they will say yes. The only other option would be to gain a large amount of patience in a short amount of time and just wait.

Standing outside of the office with his fellow operative as they get deeper into the intricate details of Kenny's plan, the two teens do not notice the door to the office open and the leader of the Rustboro City headquarters step out and find two of his workers having a powwow right in front of his office. "Brother Dalton? You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes, Father Boroughs," Kenny responds out of respect for the leader.

"Very well. Come inside, and we'll talk. Brother Mendel, you're excused."

"Yes, sir," Andre responds leaving Kenny without a handshake or a hug as a farewell greeting. Motioning for the newly-adjusted operative to follow him into his office, the man that is referred to as 'Father' by the members of the Hoenn region asks Kenny to sit down in the seat located in front of his desk.

Once Father Boroughs is seated in his cushioned, Italian leather seat, he makes a few adjustments to his seat for maximum comfort. In front of him are his familiar sights of several telephones, a desk calendar, a venti latte on a coaster to his left, the reverse end of his name tag with the title 'Father Bernard Boroughs' on the other side, and the latest in personal computer technology on his right. Having not touched his office computer in over half an hour, the screen has long since switched to his personal screensaver of time-lapsed construction of a building.

For Kenny this preparation done by the person, who for all intents and purposes is his boss, is wearing him down to his skin and bones. The room is not a very welcoming one in the least bit. During his past incarceration, he had not been in that many welcoming rooms and while he would never choose those rooms in jail over this room he finds himself in at the moment, at least he knew what to expect after being in prison for such a time. In his mind, it's anybody's guess what takes place in this dreary domicile.

As Father Boroughs exercises his personal form of sadism on Kenny by taking yet another swig of the latte, he is almost tempted to ask the man if it wouldn't be too much trouble to open the blinds on the three windows in the office. He doesn't get the chance though as out of nowhere, the Father asks, "So, how may I help you, Brother Dalton?"

Kenny thought he'd never hear those words from the Father. For him, this time is the time to sell. It's just like the final minutes of the fourth quarter and he has to come through if he is going to get what he wants. "Father, to begin, I would just like to thank you for meeting with me like this. I realize how much time an operation like this takes to maintain."

"Why are you here, Brother Dalton? Let's get to that," Boroughs asks with a neutral face and tone.

Realizing that the company Father would like for him to get to the point, Kenny pulls out a few statistics on paper for the father to see. Handing them to his superior, Kenny explains, "I got out of jail on Thursday and reenlisted with the Avenue Five offices on Friday morning. From that point on to right now, I've been on the phone making sales with old clients. I was very surprised to get such a positive reaction. Out of all heavy buyers that I've done business with over the years, all but…maybe three people wanted to buy product."

"Over 129,000 dollars in sales? In less than a day?" Father Boroughs asks in shock. He had never seen anything like it in his entire tenure with the gaming and Casino Company before. "Is this for real?"

"Yes, it is," Kenny confidently answers. "I know that I get a commission of twenty-five percent on all of my sales."

"Brother Kenny, hold that thought," responds the Father while at the same time holding up his right finger to silently tell Kenny to stop. Looking through all of the sales reports, Boroughs comes across the one single order that contributed the most to Kenny's dynamite sales. Seeing all of the items that this person has bought brings a very big smile to the face of the leader. Putting the papers down on top of his desk, he asks him, "You were able to sell _five kilograms_ of the Woodia?"

"Yes sir."

"Amazing," he says slightly above a whisper. "And you just got out of jail…two days ago?"

"Yes, sir. I did."

Father Boroughs is speechless. Indeed, he heard through the grapevine about an operative that worked for the offices in the Sinnoh region some years back and returned after an extensive prison sentence. He didn't think much of it though. After all, their work deals primarily in organized crime. People go to prison all of the time. Most will work through misdemeanor sentences that don't count as far as the 'three strikes, you're out' rule for most prison systems and return to organizations to continue their work. He had no idea of the reputation that Kenny built during his initial stint with the organization but very quickly, he was getting a good idea of just the type of operative that is sitting just across from him in his office.

"This is just incredible work, Brother Dalton. You made nearly 130,000 dollars in sales for this office in less than eighteen hours. This is…I've never heard of anyone even coming close to these kinds of numbers before. I…I don't even know what to say, but…yes. Keep up the good work, son."

While the Father could not help but gloss over the numbers that Kenny handed him a few minutes ago it appears that in his great excitement, he forgot that the teen operative came into his office to ask a favor of him. "Umm, Father Boroughs? I'm not sure if you've forgotten or not, but I came into this office to ask you something."

"You did?" he questions. Backtracking in his memory, he does remember that Kenny did mention something about commissions earlier. "Oh, forgive me, Brother. You're right. It's just that these numbers are…not of this world, honestly. I do remember you were going to ask me about your commission and let me tell you; you're gonna get a nice one of about…" Pausing to check some functions on his calculator, Father Boroughs divides the amount of sales that Kenny has made by the number four. Not even he can believe what his young operative will be receiving in less than two weeks. "You'll be getting over 32,000 dollars just from what you've sold right now. Most people don't even make that kind of money in a year."

"And with all due respect, that's what I wanted to talk to you about if you don't mind," Kenny interrupts. "I know that these numbers are very good, but I have a feeling that they can be much better if you go along with a plan I've concocted.

"You see, all of the orders that I placed were over the phone, but when I initially signed up with Avenue Five, I wasn't just in an office making phone calls and selling product. I traveled through all the different cities in the Orange Islands and all over my home region of Sinnoh to make sales. I think I could do that again, and make this office more money than they'd even know what to do with, but the problem is that I'm flat broke."

"I know that if I had…an advance on my commission upfront, I could go out there right now and get to work. I could start in Sinnoh and just keep my name out there for potential customers. What do you say father?"

Kenny's plan to make even more money for himself and the Avenue Five offices as Father Dalton intrigued. Very rarely does an operative show so much initiative to take on an independent project such as this one. But there is a problem with the plan that his young Brother has laid out for him. "Well Brother Kenny, I love the plan. It's great, but there is a bit of a roadblock in the way. You talked about having an advance on your commission in order to get to work on your plan. Well that's all well and good if you were a good but consistent salesman. You're an excellent salesman meaning that you will naturally get an excellent commission. Your only problem is that your commission is so high. We just don't have the money on sight to give you the advance."

For Kenny, this is the worst news that he could receive as it pertains to his master plans. Despite being the bearer apparent of bad news for his young son, Father Boroughs still has a smile on his face. He says, "We can give you a portion of your commission if you are interested, though."

At least something is better than nothing. He is interested and he lets the Father know this, but, "Just how much are we talking about me getting in advance and how soon can I leave to tend to my business?"

"It will be about…fifteen thousand dollars, but that might be a low-end estimate. We may have over 20,000 dollars on site. And as far as when you can go out there, as soon as we clear the money and make the changes to your paycheck, you can go whenever you're ready to make that money."

"Okay," Kenny begins. The most important question on his lips is about to come out. "But…just how long will it take for the changes to be made and the money to be sent my way?"

"At the most, two hours," he simply answers. For Kenny, Father Boroughs might as well have patted him on the back and told him to go kick Dawn Berlitz where it hurts the most. In less than a few hours, he would have a large sum of money to get him from Rustboro City to Twinleaf Town. Once there, though the saying is very much clichéd, the ball is in his court. Revenge will be sweeter than saccharin once Kenny puts his real plan into motion and has Dawn pay for her lying ways. "Is that all that you wanted to talk about, Brother Dalton?"

"Yes sir," Kenny responds. Standing up, he shakes the hand of Father Boroughs, promising him, "I won't let you down."

* * *

Throughout the extensive mansion in the finest portion of Lilycove City, it can be difficult to tell when a person is visiting the area. Whenever people want to enter the Mordetsky mansion, they often have to first set an appointment and then get clearance at the gate. Having the resources to do it, Kelly installed a system so that every doorbell ring can be heard throughout the house like the one she hears right now.

Yelling to everyone upstairs and downstairs that she has the door, Kelly speeds down the steps to the main entrance of the house. Once at the door, she takes in a large draw of the indoor air before opening the door to the gentleman at the other end. He has a shaved head and is wearing sunglasses over his eyes along with a designer suit much like the businessmen that the princess of pokeblock meets on a near daily basis.

Welcoming him into the house, Kelly gives the man in his late twenties a handshake followed by a large squeeze of an embrace. Knowing how busy this person is and the number of clients he services at a time, Kelly says, "Thank you for coming on such short notice, Mark."

"Oh it's no problem at all, Kelly," this man named Mark assures his wealthy client. "I think what you're about to do is very good for you and others out there like you. Secrets…they're no good, so are you ready to get down to business?"

"I am as ready as I'll ever be but if you don't mind, there is someone that I'd like to have present when we do this. Is that alright?"

"No problem, Kelly. Just…where is this other person?"

"Umm…oh yeah! She's in the weight room. Come with me, and we'll get her." Kelly leads Mark through a few hallways leading downstairs. It is not that long afterward that Kelly and Mark look at Solidad doing reps on the lat machine while in her exercise attire.

The Pewter City native does not notice Kelly and this unknown man at the door and by force of habit, turns her direction to the door to find her longtime crush and this nameless suit standing by the doorway. Greeting Kelly and this guy, she gets up from her seat to shake the hand of the man who introduces himself as, "Mark Graves. I'm Kelly's publicist."

"Publicist?"

"Yeah, he and I are gonna do what we talked about on Friday. I haven't gotten much sleep because I've been talking to members of the board over the phone and to my pleasant surprise, all of them told me to go for it, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do. That's why Mark is here. I'm gonna work with him on a press release and tell everyone that I'm gay."

"That's great!" Solidad affirms. Holding the shoulders of the younger girl, she gives her a questionable kiss on the forehead before letting her know, "Again, I think what you're doing is a very good thing. I promise you, if you stick to your guns and keep that fighting attitude that I fell in love with nine years ago, you will be fine."

"But before she does all of that," Mark counters, "we ought to be heading upstairs to her office to write this press release. Come on, you two," he says. Not that long after Solidad wipes the sweat from her body using her workout towel, she follows the tandem across hallways and up two flights of stairs, running into Kelly's parents on the way up to the office. Greeting Micah and Sonya as she continues to lag behind her crush and Kelly's publicist, they finally make their way to the largest room on the second floor of the mansion; Kelly's office.

Asking Mark and Solidad to take one of the two seats by the desk, the young businesswoman does the same behind her desk and in her chair. It is this time that she will spend brainstorming exactly how she and her publicist will go about her own personal outing. To Kelly's surprise, Solidad raises her hand with some hesitation. Giving her the floor with Mark's permission, the former Grand Festival Champion asks, "Forgive me if I really don't know how this works." Turning to Mark, she further explains, "I stand by Kelly 100 percent. I'm a lesbian myself, and I think that keeping something like this in isn't good for the soul. So, just how do we...out her?"

As Mark explains, "Well in this day and age of instant information that can go onto websites and other publications at the blink of an eye, we just have to get Kelly's thoughts onto a release. It's my job to essentially polish the information and have it media ready."

"But seeing as he is one of the best in the business," Kelly interjects, "that shouldn't take that long at all. We're meeting like this so he can get my emotions down on paper and then onto the different news websites out there. I don't want people to think that I'm some kind of victim, but at the same time…you know the story, Solie. For a very long time, I felt like a stranger in my own home. I felt like I was betraying my religion and my God, but also felt like this was something that I couldn't control. I have to come to terms with this myself and have done so to an extent. And…then there was May."

Solidad has to hold her peace at that time. Who knew that one three-letter name would arise so much disdain and, dare she would ever say, hate from this otherwise calm, level headed young woman. She knew the reasons and they went through her head every time that Kelly's lover came up in conversation. It was not even worth going through again if they were just going to make her angry in a time where she has to be there for her friend.

Turning her attention back to Kelly, Solidad hears her say, "May knew that I wasn't really a big fan of being found out and I think that's one of the reasons why we had the underground clubs and the like. We were fortunate to not have anyone blow the whistle on us, but I suppose that…embarrassment among other things prevented us from being known in the mainstream media and me being found out in some other way."

"I don't care what anyone says, she is a very smart girl. She kept me from leaving her even while she was with Drew by threatening to out me herself. Whether she was serious or not, it doesn't really matter now, but I couldn't take it as a joke. Doing it this way—I now know that it is the best way. I don't care what she thinks…even if she did call my actions selfish."

"Um, not to take away from your story or anything like that," Mark says, "but if we're ever gonna get this release out by noon today, we should get to—Kelly? Are you alright?"

Mark said what he just said only because he is doing the job that his client pays him to do, and that is to write information for the press to relay back to a mass audience. He did not expect Kelly to break out in a fit of tears after reliving the not-so-pleasant conversation she had with May just last night.

Both Mark and Solidad get up from their seats in an effort to calm Kelly down from her most recent low. Solidad goes the extra mile and tells her longtime crush that everything will be alright. She even adds after mulling through its appropriateness in her mind, "May's not worth your tears if she won't stand by you during this. Quite frankly, she's the one who is being selfish."

"I just…" Kelly responds while somewhat calmed down, "that's exactly what I told her, but May's situation is a tough one. Her family comes first, and she's had to do a lot of the same things that I've done to keep her secret safe. I thought I did at least something to convince her to give it a shot and come out, but I'm really not sure. I've tried calling her back on her phone but it's been turned off."

"But you really can't worry about her right now," Mark informs Kelly. "I know you love her quite a bit, but she's her own person. Because of that, she has to fight her own battles like we're doing right now with this press release. So…take your time, and just think over what you want to say to the world, because that's gonna be your audience. Concentrate, Kelly. No matter how hard it may be, you have to focus on what you want to do. Focus on _your_ battle before anyone else."

"Hey, Kelly," Solidad adds, piggybacking on what Mark just told her friend, "If thinking about May is too painful, just think about your baby brother or sister on the way. Like you said, it's time to make a change. This is your first step. Now let's take it."

* * *

Saturday morning breakfast at the Pewter Gym and the family that runs the Pewter Gym can be a very crazy time for all. With ten young adults and teenagers at the table along with mom, dad and the oldest son's boyfriend all taking their turn at the spread before them, it can very easily become a game of every person for themselves.

Sitting down for pancakes with the family and watching the fervent activity as Flint and Lola attempt to restore some kind of order with the younger siblings. Brock, along with James, both eat their food. They have spent the past day thinking about the remarks that Forrest had for the two of them wondering what actions he would take on Monday morning. Having some doubts about going along with the current plan, James thought it would be a good idea to speak some more to Lola, who came off her conversation with her son not that long ago.

Talking it over with Forrest's mom, she explained the details of her talk with Forrest to the young men. Lola went on to tell them that Forrest just needs some space and some time to think about this Though they said nothing out loud, they certainly felt that Brock's younger brother was taking his merry time to come up with something to say in a response. Whether it was an apology or not didn't matter as much as it mattered that a dialogue was at least established that included no name calling or yelling back and forth.

As they considered this and the hours went along with Forrest remaining cooped in his room for hours on end only coming out for the occasional bathroom break, they imagined what would keep the gym leader for such a long period of time. When they attempted to talk, Forrest would just tell his brother and the boyfriend of his brother that he was not ready…yet.

Reaching across the table to pour himself a second glass of orange juice, Brock wishes that his brother would at least join him and the rest of the family for this. Breakfast is their personal institution that any member of their blood group would miss only for reasons of illness or circumstances beyond their control. Taking a few swallows of the drink, Brock looks down at the plate before him. This is his first plate and unlike other times at the table, he would stuff himself silly with everything that mom and dad offered for nourishment. Though it wasn't much of an excuse, he just wasn't hungry. The whole situation did a number on his appetite as only a fourth of his original plate has been eaten with the rest of it growing colder by the second.

'Might as well finish it off,' he thinks as he picks up his fork and starts working to finish his plate. Compared to just a few seconds ago, something is missing. For some reason, as Brock looks at his plate and decides what he wants to put in his mouth next as if it were some sort of a chore, something feels off. For once in the Slate household during a breakfast, lunch or dinner, there is silence that didn't come as a result of mom or dad having to yell over top of everyone else's voice. The pokemon breeder would count it as some sort of a miracle if he ever knew how the quite calm came about. As he looks up, all questions on his mind about the very still state of the dining room were answered without a single word being moaned or muttered.

All of the faces were tuned into the entrance that leads into and out of the dining room. It is there that they see a face which many have not seen in quite a while, even though he hasn't even left the house. As far as looks go, he looks none the worse for wear. There is some sleep in his eyes, but that's probably because he might have just woken up. This conclusion becomes even more logical given the fact that the young man is standing before the rest of his family while wearing his pajamas.

"Forrest," Brock says as a means of affirming his brother's appearance.

"Hey Brock. Everyone," Forrest calls back with the rest of the family including James responding in kind. "How's everyone enjoying breakfast?"

Everyone says that they are loving breakfast, but Forrest's father Flint adds, "I'd enjoy it much more if you'd join us at the table and…handle whatever business you know you need to tend to."

"Um, yeah. About that." Making his move in the direction of his older brother and the man sitting right next to him, Forrest explains, "I want to just say that I'm very sorry to you Brock and to you, James. I…have something that I'd like to say to better explain myself if I can." Pausing to get the permission from his parents, Brock and James, he finds it without even hearing a word come out of their mouths. At this point, Forrest makes his move and begins his story. "You know, I've never been one to really get pissed off at a whole lot. I…did get pissed off at this quite a bit for a lot of reasons yesterday, but one of them was _not_ because I have anything against gays. I don't mind that you or anyone else loves different than me, mom or dad. That was a cover up for something else."

"Something else?" Brock asks.

"Yeah. I love all of you just the same and I think that being family, we know each other's thoughts. It took mom reaching deep inside of me to pull out what made me so angry. You've been gone for multiple reasons, Brock. I'd like to think that for the time you were here, I learned a great deal and aspired to be just as good as or a better gym leader as you or dad. When you left to hone your skills as a breeder and dad came back to take care of the family and mom came back to help expand this gym's horizons, I was promised the gym and in a few years time, I became the official gym leader for Pewter City.

"It is a title that I hold in the highest regard," Forrest continues. "And for that, I worked very hard. Night in and night out, I would go and learn as much as I could about my arsenal of pokemon. I wanted to be the very best in all of Kanto and not live off of the legacy that my father or my older brother has set. Yes I followed in your footsteps, but I had to make a name for myself. I don't know if it was an inferiority complex or what, but that's the way I felt. As much as I tried, I couldn't escape my family.

"Brock had a thing for the ladies. That's no secret at all and…" shrugging his shoulders and attempting to find the right words in this situation, Forrest concludes, "I suppose it runs in the family because—well…"

"You don't need to explain," Brock assures his younger brother while wearing a grin that would put a Cheshire cat to shame. "I think I get what you're trying to say."

"Though I knew that we had more similarities than differences, I wanted to separate myself from you if for no other reason than to be my own person. Because, brother, you know just as well as I do how the media has labeled this family over the years. Our parents Flint and Lola gave birth to ten children and are the king and queen of the Slate family dynasty. We are like Kanto's version of the Kennedys and all of us wanted to be a part of the family business like just about everyone else that's part of a large family. But for me, things always seemed to be different.

"It seemed like about three years ago that I would finally stand out. The media mentioned more of _my_ work and how Pewter Gym became more of a successful organization due to _my_ contributions. Brock settled into a position with Suzie as part of a breeding center and more people started mentioning me as Forrest and not 'Flint's boy' or 'Brock's brother'. I thought things were finally making a turn for the better…and then…you got into your trouble.

"I know that she was not as emotionally distraught as she claimed in a court of law. You may be…quite amorous when it comes to the opposite sex…"

"I _was_," Brock corrects.

"That's right," Forrest apologizes. "Please forgive me. Even though you _were_ quite affectionate towards the opposite sex, I know that you wouldn't have done that to that or any other girl. I know that if Misty Waterflower, Max Maple or your Croagunk were there, it wouldn't have even come to that, but they weren't and…there is no justice in this world. You wanted her to tell the truth. That's why you made those calls to her, even when it was against the rules. They believed her, and let me tell you, she isn't the victim in this."

Now Forrest comes to the part of the story that is very difficult for him to relive. The fact that Brock knows absolutely nothing about this would be reason enough, but for the second oldest of Flint and Lola's children, there is much more to this story concerning young children and their heroes. "During the time of your trial, I got a lot of press and other people in the media who wanted to talk to me about you. It got to be overbearing and it weighed on me heavily. After a while, their words started to really hurt. Even though I shouldn't have had these thoughts, I questioned your character in private. I talked to dad about it and he said no matter what, don't tell them anything. Whatever you tell the media, they will stretch to their advantage. When you got sentenced to two years, things just…spiraled for me.

"The media would come to me nonstop weeks after your sentence talking about things that were…just absurd. They asked me so many questions and I finally realized that…chasing after something for so long could land you in a lot of trouble, even if you have the best of intentions. Even though you were more than just that, Brock, even you have to admit that that was a part of you. I don't know if it was by nature or what, but you were my hero, Brock. Everything that I do, I do as a tribute to you and the great work that you did taking care of all of us as kids while mom and dad were gone.

"When you came back yesterday, everything almost seemed to…shatter before me. My image of you seemed to change for the worst. I failed to realize and understand that no matter if you are my hero, you're still a person and a person will do what they will do. I was wrong to use a crutch to try and explain my anger to you, Brock. I shouldn't have used names against you or against James. The fact that I spoke against you the way I did doesn't speak well of me…at all. After all, we are all in this together, for better or for worse. As far as I'm concerned, do what you want. My greatest concern in all of this was…being put to the side once again.

"All of this change that happened without me even having a say in it made me lash out. It made me feel secondary and I felt insulted when you and dad embraced putting James into his new role in the Pewter City gym, whatever that's supposed to mean, and I don't even have a means of contesting the decision aside from waiting on an appeal that there is no guarantee will be accepted. I just have to take it like mother's medicine, grin and bear it. And…though I've heard things, I really don't know much about you James." For the first time in the conversation, Forrest directly addresses his brother's boyfriend.

"I know from Brock that you were a member of the former organization known as Team Rocket, but…that's about it. I know nothing about the work ethic of you and nothing about your character, so how you perform in whatever position you are given will be nothing but a mystery to me."

"Well, Forrest I think that you're concerns are very legitimate," James acquiesces. "Um, you claim that you don't know much about me and I can understand that. As far as character is concerned…I do stand up for what I believe in, and perhaps even more important than that, what I don't believe in. I am the son of parents who are multibillionaires, but I walked away from all of that because I didn't want to marry who my parents chose for me. If I'm marrying _anyone_ it will be someone who I love, no questions asked. So I don't get any handouts from my parents and I haven't gotten any help from them…ever since I was a young boy. I'm what you would call a free man."

"But freedom comes with a price, doesn't it?" Forrest asks, gaining some trust with James.

"Yeah, I purposefully lost contact with my folks and only did it because I wanted to make my own reputation and have my own purpose beyond being a billion dollar plus socialite, which are ironically a dime a dozen. Call me a hobo or backwards if you'd like, but I'm not the kind of person that has ever been driven by money. Having focus and purpose and something that drives you, I believe, is worth more than any sum of cash." Turning to his boyfriend, James twists a bit of Brock's hair in between his fingers. He comments, "Just waking up knowing that I'm with Brock is enough purpose for me, but I know that I have to also earn my keep like everyone else. I didn't want to do it…"

"Hey," Brock counters.

"But your brother assured me that everyone would get behind it and that Flint would accept it, as well."

Forrest takes his time to digest everything he's heard. Not once during the exchange did Brock show any sign of shock to the things that James said, so Forrest figures that the ex-Team Rocket member is telling the truth. "You know what? I think I'm getting a better idea of the type of person that's coming in here. Mom did tell me that if I just talked…I'd understand."

"Mother does know best, Forrest," Lola comments while all of the younger siblings watch on in awe like they were watching the climax of a great drama. They dare not say a word lest they be chastised by the major players on this makeshift stage.

"I get it now. It's not all about me. I work with people I don't like all the time. You think I get along with all the gym leaders? Hell no. If I could be honest, I think that Erika is vain, Blaine should be sharing poetic secrets with Professor Samuel Oak, and Misty is…very, very demanding. You can tell I could use harsher language, but I don't. The point is that I don't get along with my peers all the time, but I work with them despite it all because…we're all in the business of excellence in pokemon training. I may not be…entirely behind it, but I still get to be gym leader and outside of that, keeping the family together as one is most important. So James, this gesture is long overdue on my part." Bringing out his right hand, Forrest desires to seal a pact. Be it friendship, brotherhood or something of that sort, he wants to start over with James, if he will let him.

Seeing the sincerity in the eyes of the gym leader, James is convinced that this action is the real thing. James gets up from his seat and gives Forrest his handshake and a little more with a hug that he, Brock or anyone else at the table did not expect. Forrest is fine with it. With his conversation with James, Forrest was able to see a lot of himself in someone that constantly desired to make a name for himself by stepping away from his family at the same time. While in this position, Forrest explains to James in a whisper, "I just feel like there should be something…we should do to really welcome you in here. I believe you're a man of good character, but this is a pokemon gym, not a Boy Scout troop or a Methodist church."

"Amen," James whispers back to Forrest.

What the two embracing gentlemen do not know is that with the silence in the dining room, virtually everyone within distance can hear what they are saying, even though both young men did their best to try and prevent it. With a simple clearing of the throat, Flint breaks up the hug that both of them shared.

"You know, it is so quiet," Flint explains, "that you could hear a pin drop. You wanna do something to properly welcome James into the gym?"

"Father, I just want to make sure that Brock and you are doing the right thing here with James. What would you suggest?"

"Well, Forrest, you are the gym leader so it's your call. What would a pokemon gym leader do to welcome someone new into their gym?"

To everyone, the solution is a simple one. It is the same way that solutions have been made over the years in the many different regions and is the one thing that unites most of the people in the dining room.

For Forrest, it's unmistakable and very simple to execute and could very well be a lot of fun. Talking directly to James and indirectly to everyone else, Forrest declares. "James, later today, we're gonna have a pokemon battle. You and I will go at it to see if you're worthy of a spot on this gym's staff." While Forrest is confident that this would be a very good idea to help strengthen the bond that he has with Brock, he and James are wary of this idea for obvious reasons.

Since his incarceration, James has no pokemon on hand for battling.

* * *

More tears have been shed and more hugs have been given and received in this time than both Rocky and Zoey can remember. Their conversation that began with so much apprehension from Rocky helped the younger sibling better understand what has caused such a rift between the two for so long. This talk has served a great purpose for Zoey as well. Knowing that her oldest sister only sought to protect her from things that she knew were going on caused some clarity for Zoey.

As the two remain in this current embrace for what is now the fourth consecutive minute, The taller Rocky gives Zoey a kiss on her forehead, telling her, "I love you, kiddo."

"I love you too, Rocky," she lightly responds.

Letting go of the hug, Rocky holds Zoey by the shoulders. There is something that she would like to ask her younger sister before they go back outside. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? You don't need any more time to think about this?"

"I'm fine. I've got…all the information I need. As soon as I see Dawn, I'll…you know."

"Again, I still think that some other action might be a better…solution for all of this, but this is your call, Zoey. I trust you."

"Thanks," Zoey replies as the two sisters come together for one final quick hug before letting go. Nodding to each other, Zoey and Rocky walk out of the older girl's bedroom for the vacation and back outside where a somewhat welcoming public celebrates and waits…and waits…and waits.

* * *

A/N: What is Zoey going to do? That is the question. Plus, more on Ash Ketchum and Misty packs for her trip to Petalburg. Also, why is Forrest planning on a pokemon battle against James and how is he going to do it when James has no pokemon? All that and more to come!

Until then, this is Rave!


	20. Reunion: No Turning Back

A Confession Gone Awry

Rocky reveals to Zoey the very sad truth about her girlfriend. She says that Dawn's past with Kenny involved drugs, a very sordid affair and involvement with Avenue Five. It eventually led to Dawn having to take some time out and attend drug rehab. Apparently Zoey thought Dawn was going to rehab for an injury she suffered while traveling. She didn't want to believe it, but was convinced when she realized that since Rocky came out to her that it would be odd for her to lie to her about anything else. Zoey then comes to an unknown decision as to how to handle the situation with Dawn. Rocky believes there may be a better solution.

Kenny speaks with the head of the Rustboro City division of Avenue Five named Bernard Boroughs, referred to by his 'sons' as Father Boroughs. Kenny made over one hundred thousand dollars in sales for the office in just his first twenty-four hours out of prison. Impressed, Father Boroughs is speechless. He tells Kenny to look forward to a large commission, but Kenny hopes to get some sort of an advance. While his Father can't give him all of his commission, given that it's so much, he can give him a portion in a few hours.

Kelly works with publicist Mark Graves on her press release that will tell the world of her lesbianism. Solidad is there with her even when Kelly can't help but mention May and her rift with her last night about her plans to come out. The moment makes Kelly very emotional and Mark and Solidad do their best to calm her down to finish the release. Forrest apologizes to his brother, boyfriend and family and bears his soul to them explaining that he's always felt an inferiority complex towards Brock. He now accepts James and wants to challenge him to a pokemon battle.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 20- Reunion Part 4: No Turning Back)

* * *

Modestly packing one suitcase for traveling, a native of Cerulean city prepares for her own personal green mile. Gym leader Misty Waterflower has mentally prepared for this moment as much as she possibly can, but in her mind, she can still do much more in that department. Nothing can truly prepare a person for what Misty is about to do. She will not make any excuses for what happened. She won't get in front of her much younger boyfriend's parents and say that she was careful because she, quite frankly, was anything but.

She screwed up, plain and simple. By no means did she plan on having a baby and causing a scenario in which her boyfriend Max would become a father before he would become a legal adult. Despite her lapses in judgment, she still finds herself in a good situation given everything that has gone down. Misty and Max truly do love each other and have committed themselves to one another over a longer time than most other people they know are in relationships. Like most everything else, Max has stepped up to the plate and shown great care and attention to detail in making sure that the news about their child on the way comes out in the best way possible. With all of the bases covered as far as making sure that the father will not abdicate his responsibilities, Misty feels a great deal of relief…until she realizes that not everything in this process will go her way.

According to the laws, things should not go her way at all. In the eyes of the law, she is a criminal and should be considered guilty of statutory rape. After all, she has carried on sexual relations with a minor for well over a year and just about two months unprotected. This behavior does not speak well to her character if this story ever made it to court. 'Oh well,' she thinks. 'There's no reason for me to worry about that now if it doesn't happen later.'

Looking over her checklist one final time and searching for any other items that she might have missed in the packing process, Misty cannot find any items left behind. She is all packed and ready to make the second biggest revelation in her life aside from the one she made on Friday morning telling Max that he's going to be the father of their child. In less than three hours, without her boyfriend knowing it, she will travel to Petalburg City by bus and make an early jump on what she and the trainer planned on doing Sunday morning by informing Norman and Caroline that they will be grandparents in just a few months time.

Misty says a silent prayer in the hopes that his parents will handle this like adults and not make any rash judgments or decisions such as pressing charges against her thereby leaving the custody of her child in serious jeopardy. In her mind, that will only add to the problems that the couple will inevitably face in their new roles as mother and father.

"We all just need to be on the same page and the same plan," she speaks. "That's how we can make this work; for us and," while holding her slightly distended belly, she adds, "for our child."

Staying in her room any longer would cause her to go insane. Holding the information she has any longer than she has to will likewise cause her to go insane, so she grabs her single suitcase and makes her way out of her room of the house she shares with her sisters. Walking down the hallway leading to the front door and a bus station within walking distance, she is suddenly halted by the sound of a voice. Turning around, she is relieved as she can be to see her oldest sister Daisy with a bag in her hand and a look of concern on her face.

"Look," Daisy begins, "I know that the four of us haven't gotten along as well as we probably should, but the three of us are behind you 100 percent, Misty. I didn't leave with Violet and Lily earlier to go shopping like you thought because I had a feeling that you would want to get this over with as soon as you could. I—uh, rather _we_ didn't want you to leave without this." Lifting up the bag in her hand, she explains, "This is…something that the three of us all pitched in to get you. We know that you are likely going to get real hungry traveling for that length of time, so we got you a few of your favorite snacks for the trip. No carrots or peppers in this one, I promise."

Misty gives off a well-needed chuckle upon hearing that her sisters thought about her during this tough time. Putting her suitcase down, she walks two or three steps to Daisy and wraps her up in a big hug, thanking her and her sisters for their love. "Seriously, thank you for the support. It really means the world to me to have it."

"Well, to be honest, you need it," she replies. "You also need the ability to use Jedi mind tricks to make sure that Norman doesn't go on a freaking killing spree when he hears what you've been doing to his son."

"_With_ his son, you mean," Misty clarifies. "I never forced him to do anything that he didn't want to do, so let's just make that point clear right here and right now."

"Look, whatever. The fact is that what you…and he did was stupid. I'm sorry. I love you and everything, but you were dumb to get involved with someone that anywhere else would still be taking the bus back and forth to high school. You know what people are gonna say about you if this _ever_ gets out in the open, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Misty reluctantly answers. "But you know damn well that I'm no predator. I'm not a sick person, I just happened to find a really sweet guy who is just way ahead of his time in terms of maturity and way behind in age. Most people won't understand, but that's their problem and not mine."

"Misty," Daisy says, raising her voice and looking her sister directly in her eye, "he's still sixteen fucking years old! Believe me, if you can't convince Max's parents that he had as much say in the two of you having sex and conceiving a baby, it won't be their problem. You're gonna have to suck up to them and make it convincing, or your ass is gonna go to jail, bottom line. Norman Maple won't be as concerned with finding the truth as he is with getting justice."

"I know you haven't seen me this serious before, Misty," she continues. "It's because the pickle you find yourself in is no laughing matter. I want you to…just understand that you have to prepare for the worst case scenarios for all of this. Max's parents might have you incarcerated and you may _never _see that little boy or girl again. They could very well do that because they have the right."

"Okay, but what about Max's wishes? He wants to be with me and has wanted it…for a while. He said that he would marry me just so our little boy or girl didn't have to be born out of wedlock. Don't they have to respect those wishes, as well?"

"They don't have to do anything that they don't want to, Misty! Don't you understand? In this situation, Norman and Caroline are judge, jury and executioner. Do you honestly think that reason will be enough reason for them to go easy on you given what you've done with their little boy?"

"He is not a little boy anymore, Daisy," Misty counters. "Just trust me on that one."

"Well, don't expect those two to think that. After all he is a minor, you are an adult. Therefore, you're responsible." A few seconds of silence pass before Daisy gives her youngest sister her parting words. "I'll be thinking about you."

* * *

Checking a few videos on the internet, along with reading some news stories and looking at a few features dealing with maps, Kenny is just killing time before he is given the money and the proverbial golden ticket to Twinleaf Town. After a few minutes bored while looking online, he decides to play a few games of the computer's version of FreeCell. Undisturbed by everyone else, who is going about activities elsewhere within Avenue Five, Kenny gets in a good thirty minutes of play winning four games in the process. The concentration of this game allows him to sharpen his mind because it requires him to look carefully at the different cards to see what fits and what doesn't in the different columns and cells.

"Brother Kenny?" someone asks. While deeply into his activity, he can still hear the surroundings and turning around, he reacquaints himself with the man of the hour, Father Bernard Boroughs.

"Hello, Father," Kenny responds out of respect. Getting up, he shakes the hand of the Father and asks, "Do you have the commission money?"

"Yes, I do, my son," he says, and then from out of the breast pocket of his uniform and takes out a white envelope that appears to be very stuffed what some type of item. "In this envelope, I have twenty-five thousand dollars for you. I hope that this will be enough for you to continue to do excellent work in sales for this organization. Now since you are a convicted felon and you likely want to travel wherever you want to continue your work without the fear of being arrested, there is a package for you in your employee mailbox that contains identification, a passport and a comprehensive guide on how to not get arrested again. It is imperative that you follow all of these instructions if you want to reach the goals you've set for yourself. Do you understand, brother?"

"I do, Father."

"Very good. Now…for all intents and purposes, you are free to go. Just get a change of clothes from the closet, given that you don't want people looking at you oddly for wearing the Avenue Five uniform, and you'll be fine."

"Thank you. I'll be on my way now." As Kenny takes the envelope from Father Boroughs, he opens the flap to find several bank notes inside. Not wasting the time to count it, the first class operative makes his way to the exit.

He doesn't get very far before hearing the Father say, "Brother Kenny. Before you go," he says, causing the operative to turn around. "Even though you probably don't need it…good luck to you, son."

After a moment passes, Kenny is not sure how to appropriately react to this encouragement from the person who is his temporary boss. Slowly nodding his head up and down, a smile starts to form on his face as the affirmation becomes clear in his head. The Father wants what's best for him. "Thank you, Father Boroughs. I…promise to do myself and this organization proud."

"That's all I ask," the Father responds. "Now go, Kenny."

The ex-coordinator needs no more encouragement at this point. Kenny makes his way out of the door of the computer room and to the direction of the building's mailroom. Walking down the hallway which leads to the elevators, Kenny finds his answer in a placard on the wall showing the location of numerous rooms of interest throughout the Rustboro City office.

Following the directions on the sign, he takes the elevator down from floor four to the ground floor. No more directions are needed as half of the ground floor is taken up by the mailroom with the elevator leading. At the front desk, there are several slots for mail and next to each slot is the surname of each operative that serves an active role in the company offices.

Looking at the bottom row, Kenny can clearly see empty slots for temporary employees of the office and his name written down on a single strip of tape. Inside of the slot is a large manila envelope. He deliberately reaches for it, pulls it out of his mail slot, and goes back to the elevators to leave the office once and for all. Pressing the single button on the elevator to go one floor up, Kenny passes the time by opening up the contents of the document envelope provided by the office. Inside, he sees the passport and identification that the father mentioned earlier, but along with that comes what appears to be a newsletter-sized publication.

Raising his eyebrows at the information before him, Kenny's curiosity is at a peak. The title of the black and white material is called 'Unknown: Five Easy Steps to Keeping Your Identity a Secret in the Business,' and if he needed any information besides the whereabouts of Dawn, this would rank high up on the list. Opening to the first page while still waiting for the elevator to come back down to the ground floor, he sees the first step's title, 'Deny, Deny, Deny,' dealing completely with how to deal with people who constantly question you about your legitimate identity.

Kenny gets through the first few paragraphs of the manual before the elevator light dings, signaling that the car has come down to his level. When the car opens, Kenny is pleasantly surprised to find Andre inside. The two teen males greet each other with smiles before Kenny enters the elevator.

Once inside with the car doors shut, Andre begins verbal conversation saying, "So I understand that this will be your last day around the offices for a while, Brother?"

"That's right."

"I've only visited the Sinnoh region a few times as a youth. How is it?"

"It's home, Andre. It reminds me of a more picturesque version of Hoenn, especially during the winters, but nothing in the world can compare to the Orange Islands, where I spent about a year with Dawn Berlitz."

The last two words that came out of Kenny's mouth are immediately followed by yet another ding of the elevator bell. It's his stop on the elevator to leave and make his trip towards Twinleaf Town to work on step two of his master plan.

"Well, I guess this is where our paths end," Andre declares. "Let me say it was nothing short of a pleasure getting to know you and," bringing Kenny's head close to him, Andre looks him directly into the eyes, slowly saying, "take that bitch down. You can do it, so go and do it."

Kenny is shocked to see this type of forcefulness from a guy he's gotten to know over the past couple of days. In that time, Andre has never shown any instance of being violent in his behavior; he's always been a pacifist in his words and his actions and getting the impromptu pep talk threw him off guard. It threw him off so much so that he did not immediately get off of the elevator when it came to a stop on the first floor. Andre exited the car; several people entered the car and the doors to the elevator nearly closed before Kenny came back to his senses, exited through the doors and finally went outside en route to the Rustboro City streets.

* * *

If the beeps did not symbolize a sign of life, then they would be nothing short of an annoyance to Delia, who is currently in the hospital room with her still comatose son. Along with Delia is Ash's father, Giovanni, who both intently watch their son after having spent time talking to his practitioner, Doctor Ronald Sloan.

"Doctor Sloan says that…he is showing some progress," Delia silently speaks. "He doesn't want us to get our hopes up or anything like that, but he did say that Ash could come out of his coma at any time. But don't you think that that's somewhat of a contradiction? Our son is showing progress, but the doctor doesn't want us to get our hopes up." Scoffing for a second, Delia adds, "he might as well have asked me to balance the budget because that's the only thing in greater limbo than the doctor's prognosis."

"We just have to keep our heads up for him," Giovanni says confidently. "We gotta fight for him just like he's fighting right now. We have to believe that he's gonna wake up and be the same Ash Ketchum that we've known these past twenty-plus years. We have to know that when he wakes up, he's still gonna be our son."

"Even if he may not remember some things, because Doctor Sloan said given his head injuries, it's a probability," Delia speaks, he voice breaking somewhere in the middle. "I just hope…that they're right and he won't have any pain. He's been through too much already. I want him to just wake up and tell me 'Everything's all right, mom.' You understand, Giovanni?"

"I understand, Del. And I think that it would be…Del, look! Over there!" he exclaims, pointing to his son's right hand. What he sees is miraculous if not unusual. It appears as if Ash is pressing buttons like he was working with a calculator or a computer keyboard.

Like Doctor Sloan told her earlier, movements like these could mean nothing, but this is a risk that Delia is willing to take as she quickly rushes out of her son's room and to wherever the good doctor is at the moment. Giovanni is not that far behind her as they both leave Ash alone in the room for now while he continues to make typing motions with his right hand.

_FLASHBACK_

_Doing some typing on the laptop that he rented not too long after deciding to help Jessie get James out of Avenue Five, Ash is checking out some other miscellaneous items online. He's gotten much of his work done through the use of a couple of features of programs of interest that allowed him to get access to maps of buildings, ships and other landmarks of note in their area. Not that long ago, Jessie and Ash got a tip from a couple of her former team members that James was in Lilycove City preparing for a mission involving several members at one time. Seeing that the largest city in the Hoenn region is a port city where items of all types can be shipped away or brought into the region, the two rightfully assume that Avenue Five might be planning their next in a series of several drug-for-pokemon trades._

_Acting quickly knowing that the cargo was coming into the area soon, they rented a hotel on the outskirts of town and have stayed there for the past five days mapping out exactly how they will go about busting out Jessie's old compatriot. Ash has been inside of the hotel room by himself for about the past hour. If anything, just searching the web calms him down before he enters what will likely be a dangerous situation on the Lilycove docks. _

_Hearing the lock to the door of the hotel jingle for a bit, Ash is temporarily turned away from his internet activity. He watches as the metal door handle opens and Jessie comes through the door in her gray sweat suit. She has in both of her hands paper bags with food for both of them and a two liter bottle of soda. _

"_Hey," Ash greets._

"_Hey," Jessie returns as she walks up to her partner and hands him one of the bags. "Did you find any new news on the shipment?"_

"_Yep. It's on the _U.S.S. Montana_, which is headed towards Lilycove but is making about three our four stops before then. Remember a girl named Domino?_

"_Of course, she was like a legend in Team Rocket's heyday. Why?"_

"_I was able to get in contact with her through Cassidy and Butch, even though they didn't want to give up the information right when I asked them for it. Domino has done quite a bit of research on how Avenue Five can get away with doing so much obscene stuff like trading pokemon for drugs. Like you told me, they are a gaming and casino company, and a lot of the money that they make is tied up in big tax deals with the local governments so they can continue to do business with little to no outside interference. These local governments obviously depend on tax dollars to keep them alive so they give orders to their police to leave Avenue Five and any of its operatives alone, because if they are arrested, they can just as easily take their business elsewhere. Now, obviously, this isn't the case with every city and town. A few good men and women in power decided that the money is not worth selling their souls to this devil, but like the old saying goes, 'Money talks.'"_

"_And bullshit walks," Jessie adds, finishing the saying causing Ash to laugh for a moment. "What? That's how the fucking saying goes."_

_As Ash explains, "Mom probably knew the saying, she just didn't want me saying it—the second part at least. The schedule posted for _Montana_ shows that it should be arriving by the docks of Lilycove in…two days and that it should be coming in the morning, likely before dawn. That's when we will hopefully get James out of there and maybe even get a few of these punks arrested for smuggling drugs into the region. If we actually show Avenue Five with drugs in their possession, the police would look foolish not to put handcuffs on a few of these criminals."_

"_Okay," Jessie says. Taking a deep breath and not really knowing what else to do with some of this new information, she decides to sit down and enjoy her meal of a chicken Caesar salad. After a few minutes of silence pass and the two unlikely allies finish their food, Jessie has to ask Ash a question that has been on her mind since they chose to work together on this rescue mission. "Do you honestly think that…disguising ourselves as Avenue Five operatives and taking part in this bust to get James out of here is the best solution? There is so much risk whenever you…take part in an operation like this. Believe me, I did it several times with Team Rocket, and they warned us all that if you aren't careful, you might lose your life. Clearly, they didn't beat around the bush and for good reason. I know at least ten operatives that died in sting operations or something of the sort. I'm just concerned!"_

"_So am I!" Ash admits._

"_But you don't have years invested into James like I do!" Jessie retorts. "That's not just any Joe Blow who's out there brainwashed by their crooked, nonsense philosophy, that's my friend, and I'm gonna make sure he's safe, but we have to look out after ourselves and make sure _we _don't get hurt, either!" Jessie is truly, emotionally driven to the brink and consumed with wanting to find her friend. So much so that she starts to show Ash this emotion by doing something she had not done much since childhood. She is unabashedly crying in front of her teammate. _

_Covering her face due to a combination of sadness and pride, Jessie cannot see Ash coming close to her and sitting next to her on the bed. "I understand, Jessie," Ash consoles while rubbing the older woman's back. "I…couldn't tell you what in the world caused me to get behind you and your plan. You and James have been a thorn in my backside for years and…I guess it has to do with my innate ability to just…forgive, forget and move on with my life. I'm not what you would call a person who holds onto things for long, if at all." Uncovering Jessie's face so that she can look at her former adversary eye to eye, he says, "Right now, you are in need. You want to help out your friend, and like I said earlier, who can't understand that? And, well…since you're so good with finishing sayings, scruples and what not, what do people say about friends in need?"_

"_That they are friends indeed," Jessie quietly speaks. "But you said 'friends'. Does this mean…"_

"_It means whatever you want it to mean. If you want this partnership to be purely business-like in its approach, then it can be that. If you want us to find James and…mend fences between us dating back to before I was a teenager, than we can be friends. It's entirely up to you."_

"_Mend fences? But Ash, I thought you said…"_

"_Hey, I may not hold many grudges with people, but I'm not above getting pissed off by pestering me for my pokemon over years and years and years and…"_

"_All right! All right, damn it! I get it!" Jessie interjects while failing to hold back her laughter._

_When the ex-member of Team Rocket finally settles down from her high, Ash questions her saying, "Do you see where I was going with that one? If there is one thing that we need to do before we do this bust, it is relax, plain and simple. If we don't relax, we go into this situation tense and there will be people who will see right through that and _then_ we'll be in real big trouble."_

_While Ash has been attempting to convince Jessie that he understands the pain that she is going through worrying about her best friend, the tables are slowly but surely turning in the other direction. Jessie now understands what he is talking about when he preaches on the importance of relaxing during tense situations. It does neither of them nor the plan any good to be frazzled or get cold feet and chicken out because of their fears. _

"_All right, Ash. You win," she tells him. "You're right. I haven't been doing a lot of relaxing as of late for several reasons." Mulling over it for a second, Jessie honestly asks the younger male, "Don't tell me that you're actually influencing me, Ash?"_

_Ash laughs before he scoffs and says, "That'll be the day. Next thing you know, we'll be dating," which causes both of them to laugh hysterically at the mere idea._

_END FLASHBACK_

"The things keeping me together during this time are my hope and my faith," Delia speaks to Ash's doctor while holding her son's hand. While Giovanni and Jessie, who recently entered the hospital, look on she asks the practitioner, "Do you see his face, Doctor? If you look closely, you can see that he's smiling right now. My boy is happy, because he knows that soon, he'll come out of this better than ever."

"And if we're lucky and he gets up and remembers what happened to him," Jessie speaks up, "we could get some information to bring down the bastard who did this to him. We all have enemies, but that was completely unnecessary. The sooner we find this son of a bitch, the better for him, because the police will be there to hold me back so that I won't be forced to take matters into my own hands."

"Again, Ms. Ketchum and Miss Palmer," Dr. Sloan reminds her, "a lot of these…movements that you're seeing of your son are not uncommon to find in comatose patients. Many of them are unconscious actions. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times; I don't…"

"You don't want me to get my hopes up. I know, I remember because you won't let me forget. Too bad, doctor. Sometimes you just have to hold on. When everything and everyone is telling someone to give up, why do they hang on? Because they believe, and I believe that my son is gonna get up from this bed sooner than later."

"Ms. Ketchum, once again, no one wishes that you are correct more than I do. I'd like nothing more than for him to get out of this coma right now, but…everything has to come in due time. Not necessarily when _we _want it, but…as strange as it might sound, when Ash wants to get out of his coma, he'll do it. His body will be his dictator from this point forward."

* * *

"Step number two in keeping your identity a secret," Kenny reads while walking through downtown city streets during midday. "You are your look; the idea that regular people will not recognize you when you walk down streets, even if you have been out of the public eye for a while, is a ludicrous one and is an attitude consistent with one that does not care whether or not he or she ends up back in jail. Just like you are responsible for your personal hygiene, your money and your relationships in life, you also hold a great deal of responsibility for your appearance. Be sure to hide any birthmarks or marks on your face or body that can easily be traced back to your original identity. Cover any tattoos you may have, consider using colored contact lenses, and try a new hairstyle as a way of crafting your new look." Upon finishing the last passage of step number two, Kenny looks up to find a barbershop just two stores away from where he is right now.

Using his left hand, Kenny grabs a portion of his hair and notices that over the time he's spent incarcerated, his hair has gotten quite long. If it helps, he can get a new hairstyle that no one will recognize at first glance. With these thoughts, he heads inside the shop to find that it is quite full with an early Saturday afternoon crowd of customers.

The shop is quite the swank hangout with many modern amenities designed for the utmost in state-of-the-art conveniences for not only the barbers on duty, but the customers as well. Facing the barber chairs are a total of three plasma televisions. One is set on a 24-hour news network, the other is on a local baseball game and the third one is playing a movie on disc. With the commotion in the shop between customers and the workers, it is difficult to hear anything from the televisions, but Kenny can hear some faint sounds coming from the speaker and see the closed captioning on each screen.

While he takes a glance at the television with the news coverage, he gets interrupted by a lady in her mid 20s carrying what appears to be a touch screen tablet computer who asks Kenny how she can help him.

"Yes," he begins. "I'd like my hair to be cut to about an eighth of an inch and I'd also like to have…well, how much time would it take for me to get blonde highlights as opposed to having all of my hair dyed blonde?"

Making notes in her computer the attendant asks Kenny, "How long do you plan to keep this hairstyle?"

"For about two weeks. That's about all the time I need."

"Well getting highlights takes about five or ten minutes. It just requires some brushing through parts of your hair and waiting for it to dry. Dying your hair completely blonde will take longer, but you can keep it in there for a while so long as you don't wash your hair thoroughly. How's that sound?"

For Kenny, the question is a very serious one. With highlights, someone may still be able to spot him from a distance and recognize him. If he dyes his hair a foreign color, then there is less chance of this happening. Waiting the extra time to have the color of his hair change will be worth it if no one can turn him in before he can get to the main objective of his mission.

He finally decides that he doesn't want to be careless about this, so he chooses to go all the way, explaining to the young lady, "Okay, I'll have my hair completely dyed blonde."

Putting more instructions into her computer, the young barber runs down the list of services Kenny would like for his trip. "Okay, so you want to have your hair cut very short and from there, you would like for what hair you have left to be dyed blonde. I assume you also want your eyebrows done as well?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Very well. Last name, please?"

"Oliver," Kenny lies, actually using his middle name. Again, he can't be too careful in his actions.

"Great! Have a seat right over there, sit tight and we'll be with you in just a few minutes."

Kenny thanks the young lady and sits down in an area with several couches placed in front of the plasma screens. He sits with several people including a couple of older gentlemen playing chess off to the side a middle-aged couple, one young boy and a young man.

Not really knowing what else to do at this point, Kenny decides to just relax and see what's happening on the newscast again. The anchorwoman on the screen is talking in front of the camera, but very little has changed in the fact that he can barely hear what she is saying. Given this, he reads the closed captioning and finds out much to his chagrin that the story of the moment is once again about the whereabouts of Zoey Neale and Dawn Berlitz.

Rolling his eyes, Kenny then hears remarks from some customers already in their barber chairs. "I'm not surprised that they're still hiding," one young guy says while the network once again shows the footage of Zoey giving Dawn the kiss prior to the Grand Festival final. "I'd be hiding if my best guy friend did that to me. I'd be hiding out of total embarrassment," and then he laughs very scornfully not really caring about the people involved.

"You know, I can't for the life of me understand how a girl could fall for another girl," speaks the middle-aged woman with her husband sitting next to her. He nods in response to her statement as she continues, "and I don't get why people would risk so much to be with someone that can't give them kids, can't get benefits if they decide to stay together long term and can't get legally married to. Where is the payoff? What do they get from this?" Many people in the barbershop agree with this woman. All at once, many people of different ages, sexes and backgrounds say their peace on the matter, which incenses Kenny to no end.

Once again rolling his eyes on the differing opinions, he decides to do something about this rampant back and forth. Standing up, he screams "Why the fuck do we care about this so much?"

This uncharacteristic defense of his former co-coordinators causes everyone in the shop to stop what they are doing, leaving the area so quiet that they could hear a pin drop. Kenny's rant does its job, but he's not quite finished yet. "Seriously, does this _really_ affect us so much that it dominates our gossip and our everyday conversation? Yes, I know what they're doing is controversial, but it's their decision and their decision alone to be together. If nothing else—if _nothing _else, can't we just respect that? If this is what makes them happy, why should you all stress about it so much? And furthermore, it's been almost a full week since this happened! Has it been that slow of a news week that a lesbian couple dominates national and world news? Come the fuck on! Seriously, let's all just take a step back and…think about this. Just think; would we want people judging our relationships like we're judging theirs?" Leaving that part of his rant open ended for an answer from someone, Kenny concedes the rest of the conversation by saying, "That's it. That's all I have to say."

After the rant, the teenage felon can now clearly hear the different televisions in the barbershop clearly. Although he preferred the quietness of the shop is something he strived for, he didn't want to hear anymore about Zoey and Dawn. It just didn't appeal to him at all and the story began to grow very old. The admittance from Kenny shocked the different barbers and customers in the workplace and for more than a few seconds, nobody talked until the female barber from before told Kenny that his chair was ready.

Walking up to her while she stands near a podium near the front door, Kenny says "Thank you, ma'am," before he sits in the one chair in the shop unoccupied by any customers.

* * *

Holding the syringe in her right hand while holding the vial of some sort of clear liquid in her left hand, May starts her afternoon routine like most other afternoons. Having not talked much to Drew, Max or her parents all day, the coordinator has been an absolute wreck for several reasons. The least of May's problems include the possibility that her lesbian affair could become public knowledge in the near future because of Kelly's plans to come out of the closet. Her problems do not end there by any means. She successfully planned a hit on Ash Ketchum, who indirectly cost her the Grand Festival championship, and the fact that the pokemon coordinating offices are continuously hounding her to come up with some date for her to relinquish the trophy to Dawn Berlitz.

To say very little of her state of affairs at the moment, she is a complete and total wreck who is holing it together as best as she can. After coming back from the Pallet Town hospital, she would not speak with Drew or the other members of her family. She just went into her room and cried out all of her frustrations until she went to sleep. When Saturday morning arrived, breakfast was fixed for May, but she refused to come down to eat. Even after a lot of coaxing from Drew and Max, she did not come down and did not leave her room until late this morning after hearing that her parents left to handle gym business with other Hoenn region gym leaders.

In a tank top and jersey shorts, she took a large cosmetics packet with her to the bathroom and laid out several vials and syringes onto the sink counter. One syringe has already been placed into the arm of May containing a combination of several anabolic steroids, and as of right now, she is filling a syringe with a large amount of human growth hormone, or HGH.

Once she gets the desired amount of the synthetic drug, she taps the bottom of the plastic barrel a couple of times to remove the air bubbles from out of the syringe. Pulling down her shorts and her underwear, May mentally prepares for the chemical injection. She has done this several times before, but doesn't think that she will ever get used to putting something into her body through her butt. Of all the methods used to get the perfect body this one does prove to be the most effective, so May grits her teeth, pinches a portion of her backside with the needle containing the performance enhancing drugs inside of her body and pricks her buttocks putting the object into her rear end.

Very quickly, May pushes the piston of the syringe down so that all of the liquid inside goes inside of her bloodstream to help further her muscle development beyond what her body is capable of on its own.

As she reaches to take the needle out of her backside, May hears a knock on the door and does not pull the object out correctly. She pulls the syringe from her body, but it comes out from an angle causing blood to come out from the injection point.

"May?" a voice calls out. She immediately recognizes it as her brother Max. "May, come on out here! We are all concerned about you!"

"Uh, okay. Give me just a minute or so. I'll be right out," May answers. She is hesitating trying to clean up the mess from the blood and put away the drugs and syringes.

"May, you don't have to hide. I know what you're doing in there," Max says. "It's obvious you're on steroids. How else do you get a body like that? Look, I'm not gonna report you, or tell mom and dad or anything like that. We just have to talk about…a lot of things. So come on out here, please. Mom and dad aren't here, and we can have some privacy."

After a minute or so of rustling inside of the bathroom which Max assumes is May doing some cleaning up inside, she opens the door and comes face to face with her younger brother. Max reiterates to the coordinator and bodybuilder, "We are all very concerned for you, May. I'm concerned for different reasons, but all of us want to make sure that you're all right."

"Before you go any further," she interrupts, "can we…not talk out here in the hallway if we are gonna talk?"

"You know, I was about to ask you the same thing. Wanna go to my room?"

"Okay. It's as good as any," she answers as Max leads the way to his room at the other end of the hallway. Once May enters his room and sits down on her brother's bed, Max closes the door behind him and looks at May. In the background are many of Max's trophies from his days of pokemon training, which given his present circumstances seem so far away from his thoughts at the moment. His glances do not show any sort of disdain in May's eyes, but she can't know for sure what is behind her only sibling's glare.

"I love you, May," Max speaks. "That's the honest to goodness truth. I know it isn't right of me to tell you anything or judge you on anything because you can just as easily point out my bullshit as well, but shooting yourself up with that crap will cost you. If not now, then it will cost you later."

"I thought you said you weren't gonna judge me."

"I'm not judging you, May."

"Then why are you lying to try and make me feel better, huh? You talk about having bullshit in your life, but I don't see it. All I see is Max Maple, the apple in his parent's eyes. Forgive me if I don't see things the way you do."

"Oh, believe me, I have some problems. Give me some time and you'll know that I have more than my share of problems. But compared to _my_ share of problems, _your_ share of problems far outweighs mine."

"What are you talking about and why does it still feel like your judging me?"

"I'll get to all of that," Max claims, "_if_ you think that telling the truth isn't the same as judging." With this comment from her little brother, May doesn't say much more. A few seconds of silence pass before Max continues, saying, "Now, as far as your problems are concerned, the first one that comes to mind is your obvious steroid abuse."

"Fuck you," May counters, "I don't abuse steroids. Don't be ridiculous. Most of that stuff is prescribed by a doctor and I follow the dosage to a 'T'."

"Do you _use_ steroids?"

Going on the defensive, May inquires of her brother, "Okay, since it's 'so obvious' to you, why do I even need to bother answering that question? Yes, I use steroids. Who gives a fuck?"

"I do. Why, May? You don't need to use that poison. Bodybuilders can have great results without risking potential damage to their bodies. You know, to be honest…I don't know what caused you to want to take up bodybuilding as a hobby in the first place. You haven't shown any interest in the sport before, and then at the age of thirteen or fourteen, you start to spend more time at the gym than you do anywhere else. Forgive me if I don't understand."

May has had a feeling for a while that Max has known about some of her activity. Still on the defensive against her teen brother, she makes the statement, "The discipline of bodybuilding is something that caused me to want to get involved. It reminded me of all the work we have to do as trainers and coordinators to be the best. It takes time, effort and…I thought that if I could take up something like bodybuilding, it would make the work caused to be a pokemon coordinator much better and it would make me more focused in both arenas."

Taking a deep breath, Max holds his composure as best as he can. He can not believe that his sister would lie to him so blatantly and use such an outlandish excuse for herself. "May, I know better than that. You took up bodybuilding to impress Kelly Mordetsky, right?"

"Okay, forgive me if I'm a little bit slow but how in the world did this come to Kelly, Max?"

"Because _everything_ comes back to Kelly, May! Hell, look at her! I workout and she has a better body than me! She's a fucking workhorse who could probably bench press me over her head twenty times without breaking a sweat, and you thought that working out would impress her right?"

With her head down and inside the palms of her hands, May hears the voice of her brother get louder and louder. She assumes that Max is raising his voice, but in all honesty, he is not. In fact, Max walked from his position in the room over to May to make sure that she could hear everything that is coming from his mouth. "That's not it at all," May tells Max.

"Then what is it?" he asks. "Tell the truth, May, or I'm gonna force your hand."

Not hearing anything come out of May's mouth, Max continues talking and presenting evidence to lead up to a particular smoking gun that he still has in his dresser drawer. "Why are you bodybuilding then? Does Kelly have something to do with it at all?"

"She said…" May hesitates, "it's important for me to be in shape and Kelly took me in to make sure that I was in shape."

"You're more than 'in shape', May," Max contends. "You're a muscular dynamo, but that might cost you down the road. I've done my research, so I know what I'm talking about, but enough about that. Maybe you weren't trying to impress Kelly by working out the way you do."

"I'm not!" May snaps.

"Didn't you hear me?" he counters. "I said you probably didn't do it, but there are more important things that we have to talk about. Like I said when we started; I love you, May. We all love you very much and…I'm just concerned. Last Tuesday when Kelly was here, I got back to the house late. I saw the limo."

Hearing that Max saw Kelly's limousine on a Tuesday night when he got home late was too much for May. Knowing exactly what she and Kelly did that evening, she goes on the defensive once more and says, "Fuck this. I'm outta here," and she gets up from her seat and leaves for the door.

As she tries to make her exit, Max blocks the doorway keeping May back. "Don't walk away from this, May. I know what you've been doing and…"

Pushing Max off to the side, she screams, "You don't know shit!"

"Try me!" he answers back. "Of all the underhanded things, May! You've been having an affair with Kelly while Drew still thinks the world of you!"

"How could you possibly say that about me? I'm your sister, Max! I'm not gay, and it's not right of you to insinuate these things."

"You don't have to be gay to have an affair with another girl."

"Shut up! Get your mind out of the fucking gutter! All that happened was a sleepover with Kelly and I in her limo. Kelly and I are friends, and you have no proof that I'm doing shit like that."

Before May can leave Max's room, he asks her, "Is that right? I have no proof?"

May was very close to leaving the room. In fact, she left the door about halfway open before she turns around to confirm to Max, "That's right. You have nothing, Max. All you have is your word, and you just can't count on that these days."

Nodding his head, he knows that his sister makes a great point. "You're right. I do have my word. But I also have the word of…you're future sister-in-law."

What was that? "Future sister—okay, you know what? Back up for a second. Future sister-in-law? Max, you don't even have a girlfriend."

"Actually, I do," he replies matter-of-factly. "The reason why you, mom or dad hasn't been introduced to her is because she…is twenty-four years old."

"Wait. What? You're dating someone eight years your senior?"

"Yes. If anyone found out about her, she could go to jail and I don't want that…especially now that I know…"

"What?" May inquires. Max left whatever he was saying open ended and the older of the two wanted to know what he was saying. "What do you know now that you—you know what? Back up again. First off—who is this girl?"

Max said something, but it was very soft and could not be heard by his sister. "What was that?"

"It's Misty, May," Max concedes. There is no real reason for him to hide it another second longer. Very soon—very, _very _soon, the entire family will know. With this, May will get a head start compared to his folks. "I've been dating Misty for the past two years and…she's pregnant with my child."

A gasp, a couple of steps forward and a loud reiteration of "You got Misty pregnant?" later and Max is trying his best to keep May quiet. He closes the half open door to his room, but does not completely shut it as he leaves a crack open.

"Drew is still here. Do you want him to know? Yes, I got her pregnant. I learned about this on Friday. Misty…well, like I said, I do plan on marrying her before she gives birth."

"Given mom and dad's opinion on the matter, do you really have a choice but to marry her?"

"No, I don't. And…I'm in deep shit. Luckily, I've got Misty there to help carry the load for us." Shedding a single tear, Max becomes very honest with his sister. "I'm scared. I know I can provide by training, but I can't be away from home for long. I wanna be there for my son or daughter, so my traveling days are all but over."

May now watches as her teenage brother seems to break down right in front of her. He starts to cry. May feels for him. Even though he can be a pain at times and is putting his nose in what she believes is not his business, she loves him just like he does her. Despite this unconditional, something clearly needs to be said even if it is obvious to the young man. "You screwed up," she says.

"You think I don't know that?" he asks her, clearly feeling incensed at this case of the pot calling the kettle black. "Yeah, I fucked up, but we all do it! Misty talked about how you've done it many times."

"Oh, don't tell me you're bringing her into your little game!" May retaliates. "That's getting old, and you're not earning any sympathy from me for doing it either! I'll say it one more time; Kelly and I are best friends. No more and no less. Do you understand?"

Standing toe to toe with his taller sister, Max remains confident in her face and her stern defense. Knowing that she had the athletic ability to turn him into a human pretzel, the trainer treaded carefully as if he were walking on tightrope. Weighing his words carefully before they come out of his mouth, Max says, "I'm gonna give you one last chance to tell the truth. I don't want to have to do this. Just tell the truth."

"I told you the goddamn truth, and I told you that you're talking nonsense, and you know what I'm telling you right now? We're done! This conversation is over."

The moment May makes her move out of Max's room; she is surprised to see him dart over to the other end of his room near his dresser drawer. Turning the handle of the door by pure habit, May doesn't catch Max dig inside of his drawer. She does however hear him say, "May, turn around," which for some reason, she does.

She wishes she did not turn around.

If she chose to just walk out of the door and not turn back, she would have spared herself a great deal of shock. In Max's right hand is one of her and Kelly's favorite toys; a double-headed dildo with Kelly's second favorite color; pink.

"Oh, shit," she whispers. May is shaking at the moment like another one of her and her mistress's favorite toys; a vibrator. There is no denying this, especially now that she has seen it and reacted negatively to seeing it.

When she turns away from Max and tries her best not to look at what is in her brother's hands, she fails to get sympathy from him. "I don't know shit, huh?" he questions.

Silence reigns in the room and Max asks, "Am I talking nonsense, May? Do I have just my word to fall back on?" May doesn't say anything and instead crumples down to the floor feeling very small and insignificant knowing that her dirty laundry has been aired out to dry.

She covers her face, one would assume out of shame, as she falls down to her knees. Max is growing tired of May's avoidance of what were not intended to be rhetorical questions. "Answer me, damn it! Am I full of shit now? Is everything I'm saying wrong? Is my mind in the gutter now? Am I crazy for thinking what I'm thinking?"

"No, you're not!" May screams at the top of her lungs and then falls down to the floor once again. From this point, everything seems to crumble as May wails louder than Max has ever heard her wail in her life, including on Monday morning when the entire family heard the Ash Ketchum interview.

Crawling to her brother and bawling like a baby, May cracked under the pressure and the evidence placed in front of her by Max. With her arms wrapped around his legs, she confesses her many wrongdoings. "I have been cheating on Drew with Kelly. I do bodybuilding as a way to impress her and…it's competition between the two of us. It's true. It's all true, Max! I am gay. I don't love him anymore, but I'm so scared. You know how mom and dad will take this, right? They'll throw me out on the streets without a second thought."

"Well mom and dad won't exactly roll out the welcome mat when they find out that I'm gonna be a father," Max admits. "But Misty told me just about all of this. You've carried on an affair with Kelly for the past six years and Drew has been none the wiser? How does that happen?"

While she cries out in anger, frustration, shame and numerous other emotions, May realizes that a piece of the puzzle has apparently not been revealed to family and friends. "Drew and I…haven't been together as long as you might think."

Looking down at her sister, Max is again surprised to hear that there is more to the story.

But then again, he should not be surprised.

"Drew and I have broken up and gotten back together…twice during our time together," she reveals. "Both times were when we were in our early teens. After the second time, that's when I got with Kelly and we…began a sexual relationship when I was fourteen. Drew thinks that…"

"He thinks you're still a virgin, right?"

"He doesn't know. That's why I don't want to have sex with him. I don't want him to find out the hard way."

As he holds May in his arms, Max really does feel for his sister. If things were different with their parents, this might not have happened. But despite this concern he has, he still has questions. "What are you gonna do now?"

Still in tears, she says, "I'm running out of time. Kelly plans on coming out very soon. She told me on Friday that she was gonna tell the world. Mom and dad might question all the time I've spent with her." Once more, she wails while holding onto her brother's leg and says, "God, I don't know what the fuck I'm gonna do, Max! I don't love Drew. I don't love him, Max, and I just keep doing this to him! What's going to happen when everyone knows what I've done?"

"You'll get through this," Max coos into the ear of his sister. "Something will happen. You'll be okay. You don't need to be yelled and screamed at right now. Yes you were wrong, but…I'm wrong. We all have dirt. You just have to keep your head up and…hope to God for forgiveness…from everyone."

While May continuously talks to Max about how she doesn't love Drew anymore, someone just outside of the door no longer feels the love himself. Outside of Max's room, May and Max cannot see a young man in his late teens cowering by the doorway in a near-fetal position. He and May share the same emotion as they are both crying and in tears, but for radically different reasons.

Holding what appears to be a cosmetics case in his hand that he found in the bathroom, Drew flings it down to the carpeted floor and covers his face with both of his hands as he just learned the sad truth about his thought to be committed girlfriend. If not for the tears that the brother and sister duo were sharing in his room, they would hear his sadness and anger as well.

"Why, May?" he says, not even above a whisper. "Not all these years. Not after I changed, it was all for you and you do this?" For Drew, everything seemed to go in a whirlwind. Nothing was the way he felt it should be. This one confession from May has changed his entire outlook. Nothing mattered anymore and he felt hurt. Obviously the fact that his girlfriend has been having an affair on him for so long made him sick to his stomach, but the lying from May over such a long period of time is what is causing his current bout of lamentations.

Now pounding the floor, Drew needs some sort of release. He must have a solution to deal with his anger, as it is consuming him at the moment. "Damn it!" he says while still on the ground. He keeps repeating the phrase, verbally cursing his girlfriend out of anger, spite and any other feeling going through his head and his broken heart at that moment.

All he wants to do is know why, but not right now. He isn't sure he should see May for fear he might kill her in blind rage.

Then people will be questioning him why.

* * *

A/N: Who in their right mind would have thought that a chapter that only mentions Zoey and Dawn in passing would have so much drama? I didn't, but here it is! Next chapter has a conversation…but is it the one you think? Also more plans on the part of Kenny and Misty to travel to Twinleaf Town and Petalburg City respectively. Forrest plans for the battle come together and more to come as the aftermath of Kelly's outing begins. And, of course, Drew will confront May very soon!

Stay tuned, as things are getting really deep as you can tell!


	21. Reunion: The Afternoon of Aftermath

A Confession Gone Awry

Two people intend to travel great distances so they can accomplish monumental feats in their own minds. Misty Waterflower is leaving her Cerulean City home for a couple of days and traveling by bus in order to meet up with her boyfriend's parents and let them know that she is two months pregnant with their son's child.

Leaving the offices of Avenue Five, Father Bernard Boroughs gives Kenny Dalton a portion of his due commission in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars. Getting some material for his journey from the mail room and saying good bye to Andre before leaving the Rustboro City complex, he makes his way to a barbershop to disguise himself before going to Twinleaf Town to exact his revenge on Dawn. He cut his hair, dyed it blonde and put all of the patrons in their place for criticizing Zoey and Dawn's relationship.

Ash, while still in his coma, recollects on the time when he and his fiancée Jessie rented a hotel in the heart of Lilycove City for one week in preparation for a large drug for pokemon trade in that city's harbor. Their efforts to get James out of that group make both of them nervous given the violent nature of the organization. Dr. Sloan reveals that Ash may not be in his coma for long.

The biggest revelation of the last chapter involved May being forced into telling the truth to Max about almost everything that has gone wrong in her life, with the lone exception being the hit on Ash Ketchum. What she does not know is that while Drew came to her room in an attempt to figure out the origins of a cosmetic case filled with several vials, he heard May explain to Max several times that she is no longer in love with her boyfriend. He falls to the floor in tears wanting to know one thing; why.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 21- Reunion Part 5: The Afternoon of Aftermath)

* * *

Away from much of the commotion of the reunion, the Neale brothers proudly live up to their titles as keepers of the family flame. Given the great mass of people at these celebrations on prime real estate in the Seafoam Islands, if there is not food available on a near twenty-four hour a day basis, a great family reunion can very easily turn into an unruly mob. Fortunately for Adam, Keith and Roger Neale, preparing food for the enormous get together is no hard task whatsoever.

One would say thank God for being able to buy foods in bulk, but these three brothers take that expression to a whole new level. Nearby one of the sections of the oceanfront property, the brothers have set up a total of four fires for roasting several meats to be served later. Experienced in the process, they set up several spits above the flames and turn them several times over, just like a classic rotisserie. Unless one of the members of the family was a vegetarian or vegan, there was something for everyone to please their palate with good old fashioned beef.

Over one flame there are several whole lambs, tied up and turning all at once. The entire spit is large enough to hold the roasted sheep, which weigh in at about 200 pounds in all. Another fire holds about five different spits and it contains whole chickens which take far less time to prepare than the lamb given the smaller size and with about twenty chickens on each spit, more people can enjoy the chickens quicker than they can the lamb. On the same flame as the chicken are several young turkeys, as well. Those delicacies combined with duck, spareribs and baby back ribs make up just a few of the different choices of main course that can be eaten.

With most of the cooking process completed in the setup, the Neale brothers only have to worry about turning the spits, making sure that the fire does not become too unruly and watching for any food that may get burned. With those responsibilities well set in their mind, the only other thing that the brothers can do to occupy their time is talk. As they watch the flame, Keith, the youngest brother, begins small talk with Adman. "Hey, Adman. I know that you are a very accepting and open individual. Mom and Dad wouldn't have it any other way. But…you can't tell me that it isn't hard for you and Jo."

Chuckling for a bit as he takes a couple of swigs of soda, the proud father replies, "It_ is_ hard, man. I mean, don't get me wrong at all. I'll die for each and every one of my five children. It's just—and forgive me if I sound kind of naïve when I say this, but I would have thought that this would make my family closer and get us to realize that we need to stick together in situations like this. In some respects it has, but I get the feeling that since Zoey came home with Dawn, something seems off. Mikey and K.C. accept my daughter's girlfriend and haven't really had a problem with her coming out."

"But the tandem of Corey and Rocky is another story," Roger interjects. "I think it might have been…Ivan who told me that he and Rebecca spied on the two of them. When he heard about that and the way that Sienna treated Zoey and Dawn, he got really steamed afterwards. I heard them this morning talking about it and the pieces to the puzzle began to come together for me as to why Ivan got behind Dawn and my niece almost immediately. Remember when we first got to know Ivan a long time ago and he talked about his brother being permanently injured?"

Keith and Adman certainly do remember. "He got the injuries from a bunch of ignorant thugs who thought that he was flirting with them," Adman reiterates. "Because of their actions, Ivan's brother will likely never walk again. Believe me, every time I think about Zoey after she came out, I think about Patrick and hope that things really have changed for the better."

"You know," Keith says, "I know that the incident with Patrick took place before Zoey was even born; about twenty…five years ago or so. Sienna, in all her great wisdom, never even got a hint or a clue about Ivan's brother being gay?"

"To this day, she does not know," Adman explains, "and Ivan feels that that is for the best that she never knows given…her strong feelings on the matter. Patrick doesn't care either way but given the fact that something like that would be a divisive issue; he respects his brother's wishes and chooses to just leave the matter alone."

"It's all really sad," Roger replies while tending to the roasted lambs. Going back over to the lawn chairs where his younger brothers sit, he continues speaking. "I don't know. You just have to keep your head up, Adman. Just keep your head up, be there for your kids and…maybe your wish will come true. If anything, Zoey's positive attitude during this time is what will keep her afloat from here on out. I was in the house with Mom, Dad and Kevin earlier. Kevin…really couldn't handle it anymore when I was in there."

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Jo didn't tell you, Adman?"

"No. I haven't heard anything from Jo-Jo since we sat Zoey and Rocky down this morning to straighten some things out that arose earlier in the week."

"Well, all of us were inside watching the news earlier before you called us to come outside and start the meats, Adman. I think it might have been Dad who changed the channel to a news network. They were harping on about Dawn and your daughter again, but then they switched to the story of another girl who recently came out. And this was listed as breaking news and everything. Her name is Kelly Mordetsky, and she's the CEO of a multimillion dollar company."

"And she was a good friend of Zoey's," Adman adds, remembering the times he has met and invited Kelly to the house as a guest of his daughter. "I think it was about three years ago or something. She hung out with coordinators like May Maple and along with May came one of her good friends, Kelly. I never suspected it of Kelly. Oh well. Given how I treat my daughter, something like that doesn't matter to me. Now what were you talking about with K.C?"

"Oh yeah," Roger remembers. "Uh, K.C. saw the story of Kelly coming out of the closet, got up from his seat in the family room and said, 'I have to take care of something right now,' and he kept saying to us, his mother and his grandparents that he has to take care of something right now. He insisted that whatever he was going to do would not wait. He wouldn't specify what he was going to do or what he meant by taking care of something, but he did appear to be serious. Eventually, they just let him go to do what he wanted, but I noticed that he had this…interesting look on his face when he saw Kelly on the television. I don't know if it had to do with seeing another situation similar to Zoey or what, but K.C. seemed almost bewildered when he saw the story on Kelly Mordetsky."

"Well, that could mean a lot," Adman determines, "or that could mean nothing at all. I think I should speak to K.C. myself and see if there's anything I can help him with. You guys need any more help, I should be inside."

As Adman leaves his brothers behind, Keith and Roger bode him farewell until later. Once the middle brother is away, Keith makes an educated assumption. "About your story, Roger; I think that maybe it has more to do with Kelly the person than it does with someone else saying that they are a lesbian."

"Kevin is the only one that knows for sure, Keith. Whatever any of us thinks is mere speculation."

* * *

"Look, you knew what you were getting into when you asked for my help!" Kelly exclaims to someone while on her cell phone. "I told you that given your music, your style and your message, you and the band might have a difficult time getting signed. I was your ticket to getting that deal that would take the band out of the rec room scene and into big 50,000-seat stadiums all over the world."

"And it now seems like we're gonna rule the rec rooms over and over again from now on."

"Dude, shut up. Okay?" Kelly spitefully interjects. "Yes, I came out this afternoon, but that hasn't hurt me in any way and that shouldn't hurt me pulling some strings and getting _The Assertion _their deal on someone's label. Do you understand, Kevin? You and your band will be fine. Calling me in the middle of the afternoon and yelling at me telling me that I fucked you and the band up isn't helping anyone in the least bit, so settle down. Think about it."

On the other end of the line, band leader of _The Assertion_, Kevin Neale, is pacing back and forth in his room while talking on his cell phone with Kelly. Knowing each other from a few years back due to Zoey's friendship, they got back in contact with each other just a couple of months ago when K.C. found out that the Lilycove native was a big fan of his band. She would go so far as to travel to their various concerts incognito to avoid fans and the press. K.C. knew of Kelly's growing reputation as a businesswoman and wondered if she would help get the word out to members of the mainstream media about their unique sound. She agreed and got in touch with members of her board who also had connections with the recording industry.

Overtime, she has been working out plans with the different labels which are showing some level of interest in the band. Through the tried but true method of using demo tapes, hype and name recognition, Kelly has been working almost nonstop for the good of the band to find a label that would not only grant _The Assertion_ a long term contract, but would also give them the important factor of creative control to the group so that their messages would remain and they can continue to make the music they want to make.

"You know how hard it is to ask a record label to just hand over everything to the artists, Kevin?" Kelly inquires. "A few of them actually laughed in my face and I'm at a level playing field with a lot of these people as far as finances are concerned. Okay, that's exactly what I wanted you to avoid when you got into this. Few labels will actually take the chance given the amount of money and risk at stake with the contract you want. I know you don't want to be turned into something that you are obviously not and have the original purpose of the band lost in the shuffle, but buddy, if I can't find anyone that's just as passionate as I am about _The Assertion at the Point_, that's what's likely gonna happen." Some seconds of silence pass on the other end, before Kelly retakes the conversation. She asks Kevin, "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you, man?"

"I'm getting it," he answers. "I don't know. I think seeing the news of you coming out kind of…reminded me of Zoey. Though she didn't come out until just recently, she always seemed to give clues about her preferences. A few people in the coordinating offices wanted to change her look and have her be something that she wasn't."

"You mean more feminine?"

"You said it, not me," K.C. retorts, "but that's pretty much it. A few years back when all of these sponsors began to line up and have coordinators represent their products, Zoey and her peers could really start to make money hand and fist. Zoey has actually told me that there were companies that asked her if she was gay and told her point blank that they would not sign her up if she admitted to being a lesbian. If she was ever outed, then they did say that they would take legal action. It was tough for a while and she did think about blowing the whistle on a few of these corporations, but she eventually lined herself up with some great sponsors that didn't care about any of that stuff. You might have heard this in the trade magazines last year, but for her sixteenth birthday, she got a Ferrari and signed onto Fiat. From there, it was AMEX and a few others who hopped on board, and…the rest is history. So…I understand how hard it can be to work with some of these people given you and Zoey's situation. Few will even give them the opportunity, which is…just sad. I apologize for snapping on the phone to you. That was wrong of me and very inconsiderate."

"It's okay, man. I know that you've put a lot of time into your band. And…I've gotten worse calls from people today since the press release came out about an hour ago. There were those who told me that I should not have come out because it affects far too many people and, of course, there were a lot of other reasons. Ex-girlfriends that I had were wondering if their names would be exposed in the media and I told them that I wouldn't do that."

"Okay, I think that's about all I have left to talk about with you for now. Again, my best interest is making sure that my baby—my band gets its fair shake compared to all the other acts out there. If this happens, then that's fantastic. Thanks again for helping me out with getting all of this information."

"Hey, for a band as great as yours," Kelly replies, "the pleasure is all mine, K.C. Take care and tell Zoey I said hello."

"Will do," K.C. says before giving Kelly his goodbye and hanging up the phone. Sighing before he slumps down onto the foot of his bed, he understands how difficult the business aspect of having a band can truly be. Dealing with corporations, negotiating with people and presenting a hard line did not appeal to him as much as playing music in front of a crowd of small, albeit dedicated listeners. That is what brings him to the dance every day, and it attracted him more than board meetings, contract signings and dealing with suits on a day to day basis.

That end of the business is what is often referred to as a double-edged sword. While K.C. would like nothing more than for his band and the experiment to be a success, he underestimated the drain that it would have on him. Just the phone calls back and forth with Kelly, his liaison to the mainstream, had him on pins and needles as he anticipated whatever new business she had for the band leader.

"K.C.? May I come in?" a voice calls while at the same time, knocking on the door.

The 21-year-old recognizes the voice. Sitting up, he says, "Come in, dad," and Adman enters K.C.'s room. Walking up to his dad, he gives Adman a hug without any warning.

A bit taken aback by the show of great emotion from his oldest son, Adman isn't sure where to start. Mulling it over, he goes for a tried and true method for all of his conversations throughout his life. "Hello son."

"Hey dad," he replies, nuzzling his face into the upper chest and shoulder of his father.

"Your uncle was very concerned about you earlier when you were sitting down with grandma watching the news."

"It's just…a lot of stuff going on in my life. I don't wanna burden anyone with it, but some of it involves Zoey, a part of it is my overall time and investment in the band and…just lots of other stuff, dad. A few years ago, you and mom would probably tell me that this was all part of growing up and I guess you're right. My stomach feels like it's tied up in knots right now."

"Look," Adman says, staring K.C. directly into the eyes, "whatever you are going through, you don't have to go through it alone. Just keep your head up and do not stress yourself out if you can help it. That's a big problem these days. A lot of the problems we face are because we make them bigger than what they are."

"But dad," replies the son to the father, "what if most of the problems you're facing are things you can't help?"

* * *

"No, Roxanne!" Kelly answers while on her Blackberry. "For the last fucking time; nobody's name is coming out! Okay? I'm not gonna say it anymore. Your times with me are gonna stay secret, and while you're at it, please tell the rest of the members of Academy that their names are safe as well. Goodbye! I'm busy, so please don't call this number back!" she says, pressing the red button on the phone to end the conversation.

While in her office, the only thing that Kelly has been doing the entire afternoon is taking phone calls from anybody who feels they may be adversely affected by her coming out early today. She has felt the strain of about ten or twelve different people yelling through the phone lines in the hopes that their names will not come out in the same way Kelly's did.

The businesswoman knows the meaning of the word stress. Having to make decisions that can have life-changing effects on her employees on a day to day basis is stressful enough, but her life outside of business makes her work seem like business as usual. Dropping her face down onto her desk, she brings it up and puts it back down several times, pounding her head against her hard wooden desk.

"Kelly?"

Moaning while bringing up her head, she asks the person at the doorway, "What now?" Noticing who she is talking to, Kelly straightens herself up. She still does not anticipate seeing her pregnant mother standing across from her in the room while holding a cordless phone.

"Kelly, there is a girl named Ryan on the phone. She said that she needed to speak…"

"She said that she needed to speak to me about my press release from a couple hours ago, right?"

Not saying another word, Sonya walks over to Kelly and hands over the receiver. Reluctant to take the phone from her mother, she understands that she has no choice in the matter. After all, had she been more careful, she would have never even had to speak to Ryan on this matter. Taking the phone from her mother's hands, Kelly thanks Sonya, but she sticks near Kelly giving her some faith-appropriate advice. "Pray about it, Kelly. Ask God for guidance during this time…and every time. Do you hear me, girl?"

"Yes, ma'am," she says as her mother gives her the privacy she deserves. Bringing the receiver up to her ear and mouth she greets the girl on the other end of the line, calmly saying, "Hello, Ryan."

"Hi, Kelly," Ryan speaks while lying down on her bed. Like Kelly before her, she is handling this conversation

"How's the family doing?"

"Okay, but let's get down to the ultimate reason why I am on the phone with you right now. First off, congratulations for doing something that I don't think I would ever have the balls to do myself."

"Well, there's your problem, Ryan; you don't have any balls."

The young teenager has a bit of a laugh at her own expense at the comment Kelly made. "Well thank you for reminding me. Like I don't get a look of it every time I have to sit down to go number one. But as far as you coming out to the public, I'm not gonna yell or scream at you because I have no reason to do that. I know you always like to focus on the negatives of our relationship over the past four years, but there have been a lot of positives as well."

"Ryan, don't…sugarcoat things. You know what I did to you when you were only ten years old."

"When I lied because I was desperate for answers to my questions," Ryan counters. "I told you I was fourteen."

"And even then, you looked like you were almost sixteen," Kelly recollects. "You weren't on steroids or anything like that at the time, were you?"

"Oh, no way, Kelly! Needles scare the shit out of me. I…I don't know how to explain my height over the years. I know that I had a great-grandmother who was quite tall, but that's it. I might have gotten her genes."

"Had I not been so gullible or careful with the way I handled the Dyke Clubs like I am now, this wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have raped you at age ten. I wouldn't have given you that STD and you'd still be able to have kids."

"Kelly, you did _not_ rape me," Ryan clarifies to her saddened friend. "That's why I haven't told my mom, dad, my brother, the police or anyone else, even after all this time, because you did not force me to have sex. Whatever I got, I deserved. I was a damn fool to think that having sex with another girl would help me find out if it were true or not. If you don't already know, I found out the hard way that the answer is yes. You don't deserve to be punished for my mistake. I won't be able to have kids, but let's be honest; I'm not exactly the…ideal role model for motherhood."

"That doesn't mean that it doesn't get me down, though," she continues. "Earlier this morning, I talked to one of my basketball teammates. She talked about how she goes to her family reunion and all the different couples coming together with their babies. I cried because I knew I'd never be able to go through that stage of having a child no matter what. I mean, my mom and dad look at my internet files nonstop and they ask me why I always look up information that has to do with adoption, as if they don't know. It's crazy, but I have no choice but to live with it because I had to know so badly. At least I still have my life and I can live it to the fullest."

"But you don't have a childhood anymore, Ryan," Kelly softly reminds the girl. "I was the—well, you really can't call me an adult even now, but I was the oldest. If I had even a shred of doubt concerning your age, I would have never did what I did to you. I took your innocence when you were still innocent. Shouldn't I shoulder _some_ guilt for doing that?"

"Yes, _some_ guilt," she says, "but not all of it and not even most of it. Just…I know given all of the stuff you did back in the day, you've had people bitch at you nonstop. Am I right?"

'Ryan must have some psychic tendencies,' Kelly ponders. "No, you're right. Ever since I did the news release, my phone line has been just like a hotline. Everyone's been wondering, 'Oh my God is my name in there? Did Kelly mention me? Is my reputation ruined?' They say this to me like I'm somebody who does crap like that. I didn't do this for them, you know what I mean? I did this for one person, and that's me. That's what May…" Kelly then stops speaking in order to not open up a kettle of worms with someone who she actually has a good relationship with at the moment.

"Excuse me?" Ryan questions. "What was that about May?"

"Never mind, Ryan. I just…I don't know what else we have to talk about right now. You support my decision, and for that I say thank you, but I still feel guilt."

"Then feel guilt. You feel guilt and so do I, so we're in the same boat. We'll do like my parents say and lean on each other for support."

Curious, Kelly decides to take the conversation into another arena. "I know we've talked about this many times before, but I just want you to be honest with me. Aside from you feeling that you should take the blame for lying to me, why haven't you decided to turn me in?"

"You're not a bad person, even if you did a bad thing," Ryan answers simply. "You have always shown regret for what you did and I am willing to forgive you. I guess the reason why I stick by you and support you is that while I've made some level of peace with myself, I don't know if you've ever done the same thing for yourself."

"Whatever," she says.

"Why don't you turn yourself in if you feel so guilty?"

"Because I'm not an idiot. If I turn myself in, Ryan, then that opens the floodgates for every other girl I've ever done something with to use their information against me, or we could go through this again with me having to hear people yell at me over the phone making sure that their secrets remain secret." Like she said a little bit earlier, Kelly has no idea what else to say to the aspiring pro basketball player, so she chooses to wrap up the conversation with the girl, saying, "Well, I gotta say that hearing your phone call was a breath of fresh air for me compared to the other calls I've gotten today. Thanks. It was nice talking to you."

"Take care, Kelly, and hang in there."

"Goodbye for now, Ryan," she replies as she hangs up the cordless phone. Putting it down onto the desk, Kelly surrenders herself to her emotions, giving into the pain and anguish she has caused an entire family four years ago.

Indeed, Ryan says time and time again that the fault rests on her shoulders, but in her mind, Kelly should have known better. At the peak of her affair with May and at the height of the sexual deviancy, kinkiness and promiscuity which took place in Kelly's Dyke Clubs, times were wild and incidences such as the one involving Ryan Roderick had the potential to slip through the cracks. Though she knows that the other people she has had like encounters with were her age, slightly younger or older, she still can't help but feel regret for how everything came about in the way it did.

Her rebellious streak dating all the way back to when she came out to her folks at the age of eleven caused her to go out and want to prove something to the world and, more specifically, to her parents. No longer needing to prove anything to anyone, Kelly is left with her thoughts, which makes her sad as she wonders how things could have possibly spiraled this far off into the distance.

Then, the thoughts of a willing desire to want to improve herself from the inside out remind her that her past life will have to completely die in order for true change in her life to happen. She should have no reason to feel down or downtrodden in the least bit. Business is going very well, she is with one of her best friends and confidantes and before she knows it, Kelly will become a big sister. She has a lot to be happy and thankful for.

Left alone with these differences of feelings, she gets a literal wake up call. The ringing of her cellular phone causes her to jump. It seems as if there is yet another concerned individual that heard about the news and wanted to know some information from Kelly that may or may not be in the report.

Sighing, while understanding that the person on the phone will likely not stop calling, Kelly picks up her cell phone, presses one of the buttons without looking at the window display, and she greets, "Hello?"

"Hey, Kelly! Guess who?" a young male in his teens says on the other line. He greets the young businesswoman.

Recognizing the voice, she groans, saying, "Oh Jesus, keep me near the cross. What the hell did I tell you about calling this phone number?"

"To never do it again, but this is news that I think you might want to know. It has to do with May Maple."

"Look, I really think that you are overstaying your welcome with me on the phone. I don't care what information that you have concerning May, I have to take care of other things at the moment. Our relationship is kind of strained at the moment due to some disagreements we had, but just like your dad and my lawyer, I am busy…Jerome."

Indeed, on the other end of this phone conversation is yet another member of the family reunion in the Seafoam Islands. His father is the family lawyer, who also has numerous clients in the business and entertainment industry and while he is occupied with person to person activity, his son will often take messages for him and/or handle various office work if he is unable to do it himself. He is Jerome Fineman, but as he tells Kelly, "You know that it's Jerry. I feel hurt, Kelly. I don't like the fact that you just used my government name in vain."

"Okay, you know what? Enough! Why am I talking to you right now? Why am I not on the phone with your father, Ross?"

Fiddling around with a few of the functions in the modernized bathroom he's currently standing in, Jerry answers, "He's busy trying to convince my mother not to go along with the karaoke performance tonight. They're gonna be The Captain and Tennille, and Dad always likes to at least have a say in these things."

"Fantastic," says a very vexed Kelly. "Now I'm gonna hang up and forget that I had this conversation with you before I tell your father that you are goofing off on the job!"

"Wait. Give me two minutes, Kelly. Please, I swear I'll be done before you know it, but I think you might want to hear this!" he claims. He was not sure if the girl was telling the truth or not and didn't want to risk it.

Blowing a large amount of air into the receiver, Kelly concedes to the younger teen. "You have two minutes, Jerry, and then I'm hanging up. Now what is the news?"

"It has to do with the Grand Festival that May lost. You know that on the day when they have the contest battles and what not, the Final is not official until Wednesday afternoon? Well, the geniuses over there apparently did not make any kind of announcement about extending this rule when they made the official announcement…on Thursday morning. If you promise not to tell my dad anything, I can push this case to the top of his to-do list and we can argue negligence on the part of the Kanto region with handling this news and…with enough of a case, May might be able to get a Grand Festival rematch."

Processing much of this inside of her head, Kelly has not gotten the chance to verify the things that Jerry just said. She hasn't watched much television with the exception of the Grand Festival on Sunday. "Jerry, are you sure about all of this? I mean, you're not pulling my leg about this…delayed official announcement?"

"No."

"This all sounds like it might cost me a lot. I mean, I'm already paying your dad quite a bit, because he does a fantastic job. But I've hung around your dad long enough to know that filing a case like this might take a while."

"Actually, it won't. All we have to do is present indisputable evidence that the heads of Kanto contests slipped on their own two feet in handling their investigation and they'll be left with no choice but to do some quick and effective damage control and the most fair thing to do, seeing as both May and Dawn have been declared the Grand Festival Champion for 2012, would be to have a rematch. And, speaking from a perspective that you're familiar with, it makes for great promotion and business to do another final match. Do you think that that news might get you back on May's good side?"

"Jerry, this is…monumental news! I don't—I can't believe anyone else hasn't picked up on this! May will love me if she knows that _I _can make her dream come true!" A second of silence between the lines passes before Kelly adds, "You are your father's child, Jerry. Now, you promise that you're gonna get your dad to take this case on?"

"As soon as I hang up the phone."

"All right. Thank you for all of your advice, Jerry. I'll talk to your dad later. You and the family take care and enjoy the family reunion."

"Thanks, Kelly. I'll be sure to do my best."

"Good-bye," she says, wrapping up yet another one of her conversations with people. Unlike the numerous other talks of the day, Kelly does not come away from it with bad feelings or any sort of discontent.

Indeed, the talk with Ryan Roderick was a very informative one, though it did leave a very poor taste in the mouth of the young woman. She did not look forward to conversation with the basketball player much like she did not want to even entertain a discussion with Jerry Fineman. The differences between the two can be found in the forms in which both called the princess of pokeblock. While Jerry will often skirt issues or take scenic routes in chats with Kelly, Ryan is very blunt and at times, abrasive with her speech to the point where people do double takes and wonder whether or not something actually came out of her mouth.

But in Jerry, there came good news. He inspired Kelly in a way she did not think was possible. He brought her something that could get her closer to May. It was like a priceless gift which came onto her lap from the heavens above as if even they saw that the union of the two girls from the Hoenn region was meant to be. For the first time that Saturday afternoon after the release of the news, she actually smiled. She forgot how good it was to do this, but learning about the discrepancies in the Grand Festival results made her not want to take the upside-down frown off her face.

Invigorated and elated, she decides to keep the feeling going. Leaving her office, cell phones and business behind for now, she calls out to her friend for some real fun that has absolutely nothing to do with a bed or the removal of any clothing. Out in the hallway, she looks around the upper floor skimming the different rooms to find someone in particular. Going into the guest bedroom, she finds the person of question inside lying on the bed and says, "Hey, Solidad! Come on! Let's go get some lunch! Just the two of us. How's that sound?"

Sitting up, she smiles at the chance to finally have some real alone time with Kelly so they could just talk and where the discussion had more to do with them and not just sex or their differing opinions on love. Of course, she agreed to lunch with her longtime object of affection, and walked hand in hand with her down the stairs.

Seeing her mother, Sonya, and her father, Micah, in the kitchen, Kelly lets them know that they will be about an hour or two. They say that it is no problem and from there, Kelly decides to leave Gordon be for this impromptu occasion and she just takes her own personal vehicle, a Tesla Roadster, out while they have lunch.

* * *

Going from person to person and place to place in the extensive backyard and front yard of Zoey's beachfront property, Dawn Berlitz looks for her. Asking cousins, aunts, uncles, Zoey's parents, family friends, her brother, sister and grandparents of her whereabouts, the coordinator grows restless as the search has gone on for over twenty minutes now.

Unable to use her cell phone and call Zoey because her phone is off at the moment, Dawn has no choice but to go on this makeshift scavenger hunt and find her girlfriend. Hearing loud roars and rotations of what sound like car engines off in the distance, Dawn gets some sort of clue as to the whereabouts of the teenage sensation. Inside of the garage of the beach house are the family cars, including Zoey's prized Ferrari. The engine sound she heard was more of a relaxing purr rather than a wanton screech.

Growing in raised anticipation of what she hopes is her sweetheart tending to her vehicle, the Grand Festival champion does not walk. Rather, she runs in the direction of her girlfriend's garage. Coming from the backyard of the house, she has to run through many of Zoey's family and friends and then go around the house to the front of the property, where the garage can be found.

As Dawn makes the turn to the garage, she sees the door to the storage room open. Not even needing to search the premises of the room, she feels her hopes dashed in a flash as she finds a yellow tank-like truck and a black sports utility vehicle, but there is no red sports car with the insignia of a prancing horse on the front.

Stomping the epoxy floor in the car room, Dawn lets her anger be known. "Goddamn it! Where are you, Zoey?"

"You looking for Zoey, Dawn?" someone questions from just outside of the garage. Turning around, the teen sees a younger male slightly taller than her with glasses and curly hair. He's carrying a can of soda in his right hand and his face gives off the impression that he is anticipating the answer to his inquiry.

"What's it to you, Corey?" she responds. "I just want to be with _my_ girl. All right? I want to talk with her about a few things without having to look behind my back wondering if I'm being watched."

"And I'm sorry about that, Dawn," Corey steps in, interrupting the blue haired beauty. "I know that means jack to you, but I can't do much more than say, 'I'm sorry. Look…I did some talking with my parents. Rocky and I both did it, and the fact is that I can't have any more screw-ups. I really think that we started off on the wrong foot."

"You're damn right we did," she impatiently interjects. "You and your sister don't even know the hurt you've caused Zoey, who's had to go through more than anyone should not just in this past week, but her whole life. I can't believe that the two of you would be so insensitive to her feelings! And for what? Rocky, I still don't know what the fuck she has against me, and you have a crush on me that you selfishly won't let go."

"Look, I can't help who I fall in love with, either!" Corey snaps. He, an otherwise docile and pacifist individual shocked Dawn when he yelled back to her showing his true frustrations with his feelings in the process. Taking a few seconds to calm himself, he continues, saying "So in that respect, we're…quite alike. I fall in love with someone who is convinced that she can only find love and romance in other girls and despite that, I can't help but be…breath taken by her. In fact, knowing what you've said about yourself, it almost makes me want you even more."

Now taking off his glasses and pressing his left hand to his face, he explains "Look, you want to know where Zoey is, so here goes. Zoey left the house a few minutes ago. The last person she saw before she took her car out was me. She said something about wanting to clear her head and also said it's important that she have no distractions while she does whatever she's doing. She laughed before she told me 'I can't get any damn peace and quiet while I'm in this packed house,' and wanted me to let everyone know she would be right back."

"And what in the world would make me actually believe what you're telling me?"

Corey half expected a response like that from Dawn. Given their unusual start knowing each other person to person instead of through word of mouth, the gifted child would not have expected anything less. Putting his glasses back on and taking a few gulps of his cola, Corey answers, "Zoey made it very clear to me to let you know that she's coming back and the first thing she wants to do is speak with you. And she said that if I bother you or upset you at all, she'll kick my ass. I'm surprised that she didn't talk at all about Rocky and saying anything to Rocky about not bothering you, but oh well. I'm just the messenger and quite the wimp. So, if I'm getting to you at all, I'll leave. Besides, a few of my cousins also want a piece of me given everything I've done. Again, I'm sorry and if nothing else, I just wanted you to know my feelings and know that…I'm trying. It's hard, but I want to stop standing in your way if I can. I'll go now."

Walking towards the doorway leading from the garage to the house, Corey has a legitimate look of a downtrodden individual. He appears to be someone at an intersection in life and he has chosen to take the hard road. While one end of the road leads to self-satisfaction and an increase of confidence and companionship, the other road leads to the respect and the love his family has for him. He could very easily betray the trust of his family by continuing his quest for his sister's girlfriend, but it appears that he has conceded the fight to Zoey.

"Wait a minute! Corey!" Dawn exclaims. "Come here. Come here," she requests. Given everything that these two have gone through and the numerous actions of the Neale's youngest son at the moment, the least Corey deserves is a conversation. For once, it does appear that the young man is being sincere in his words. The second generation coordinator feels that it would only be appropriate that she do the same for him as it pertained to various aspects of her relationship with Zoey. When Corey meets Dawn face to face, she asks, "I know that Zoey might not like or agree with it, but I'll talk to her later. I just—would you like to talk? Just the two of us?"

Nodding his head and smiling if just for a moment, Corey knows that he has what he wants and he can turn a corner in their fragmented tale of unfounded affection. "I'd like to talk, Dawn. That would be good for us." Pointing to the door leading to the house, Corey asks the older teen, "Wanna go to my room?"

"That's fine with me," she answers and with Corey leading as a guide, Dawn walks from a hallway leading up to the stairs which lead to his room and hopefully, some final resolution between the two of them.

* * *

Struggling with something he has never had to do before in his young life, one teen is putting the final touches on his ultimate change. With his top and bottom eyelids open in his right eye, he places a small glass object in said eye so his iris appears to be green as opposed to his natural brown. Buying a set of colored contacts from a local pharmacy earlier, his struggle finally ends as he places the object inside of the eye in question. Blinking several times to get a feel of the second placed contact, he now feels them adjusting to his eyes very well if only due to the fact that he can barely feel the contacts.

For one, Kenny can see, which is most important, and as he checks his face in the mirror, he feels a sense of minor victory as he doesn't even recognize himself from John Doe. The Kenny he knows usually has longer brown hair with matching eyes, but this Kenny seems to have a little bit more fun with his short, blonde hair, but the monster within him gets a glimpse of the rest of the world through his now green eyes. Along with that, any stubble or facial hair he developed while behind bars was removed back at the barber shop, so he is clean shaven.

His look has more than passed the test in his mind. Just seeing what was really himself in the mirror nearly shocked him to the core and that was more than enough convincing for him to leave the restroom and move one step closer to Twinleaf Town and the home of his ex's mother for more information on her daughter. While outside, he walks alongside the other people and feels a wave of confidence as nobody stares at him or makes an attempt to place him for being who he actually is. He falls right in line with all the other people in the crowd, which is the best thing that could happen for him.

All of the steps in the guide to keeping his identity a secret have paid off if for no other reason than the fact that his confidence has gone up several pegs. Deciding to read further into the booklet, Kenny turns to step number three and reads, "Step number three: Who are you? I really wanna know. Congratulations, you look great, but the most important part is still to come. All of your identification inside of your packet is left blank for a very good reason; it must be fitted to your new look, so it is now time for you to take pictures of yourself. Given your current location of Rustboro City, we have a special individual in the area to handle all of these important intricacies you might have neglected in the process, including the obvious task of picture taking. Enclosed in this pamphlet is a special address with the name of the person and/or organization that will help you in customizing all of your necessary identification, including your pokedex, passport, and other items of interest necessary prior to any great amount of travel."

Looking at the bottom of the pamphlet, Kenny sees several handwritten lines of text. Among the different items are an address and a phone number along with an interesting name listed in the pamphlet as well.

"Slim…Sam?" Kenny questions. He can only assume that the number and the address belong to an individual in the city, or in the outskirts of the city, by the name of Slim Sam. It was an odd name for someone to have, but he was sure that it was probably a pseudonym for something else. A lot of the members, associates and cooperatives of Avenue Five and other crime operations were, in fact, rumored to have different names than that which they presented to the general public.

Kenny shrugs his shoulders and decides that thinking over this 'Slim Sam' individual any more would be a total waste of time. The best thing for him to do in his situation would be to just find this person and go from there in his quest. From there, he would get his identification documents finalized, work on any other details and then make his trip north to Sinnoh.

Still in the city, he knows that he can not be too far away from either a videophone or any other payphone so he can call for directions to get to Slim Sam.

Then, remembering that he passed one while walking out of the public restroom some four or five blocks away from his current position, Kenny turns around and makes his way back to the area where he knows he can get in contact with this so-called 'special individual'. Walking quicker than he was a few seconds ago, he knows that the phone is just minutes away and from there, public transportation or just a little bit more walking will put him one step closer to his goals…and his ultimate victory.

Walking through the people while going in the opposite direction proved to not be as bad as he thought it would be as it only took about two minutes for him to see several phone booths lined up against a wall with about one or two people talking.

Checking his pockets, he unloads some of his change and finds that he has enough for the phone call to Slim Sam. Making his way to an unoccupied phone booth, he wants the process to naturally go by as quickly as it can go. As he takes one of the larger coins out of his pocket, he drops it before he can put it into the slot. Rolling his eyes before picking it up, Kenny bends down and gets the coin, slowly putting it in the slot. Two more coins going in the slot, and he can know hear a click from the machine. A few seconds later, that click is followed by a ring of the phone.

After the first ring, there comes another ring.

And a third ring after that.

Tapping his foot, Kenny waits for a voice on the other end. After the fourth ring, he is now prepared to hang up the phone and get a refund of his money before the line switches to an answering machine.

But then, the sound of a young man saying, "This is Slim Sam, how may I help you?" perks Kenny up more than a Venti Frappuccino.

Bringing the receiver back to his ear, he speaks into the device. "Yes," he says in an unexpected greeting with the guy on the other end. "Hi there. I got directed to your number by the Avenue Five offices…"

"And they said that we would help you with getting identification suited for your brand new look. Is that correct?"

It appears given the few seconds he has spent on the phone with this guy, that he his very much experienced in the matters of Avenue Five. "That's right. I have a passport and my pokedex, but I think that there might be a few other things for me to take care of before I start my travels."

"Okay, to start off, may I have your actual name and town so we can prove you are an actual operative of Avenue Five?"

"All right. My name is Kenneth Oliver Dalton of Twinleaf Town."

"Thanks. Now hang on while I get this all into the computer." In the background, he can hear some typing on the other line. It sounds as if the information is being placed for verification. A half a minute of silence on both ends pass before the unnamed guy on the other end says, "All right, Mister Dalton. All of your stuff is here in the database and you're being shown as an active member of 'The Five'. You can come in any time today with the exception of between six and seven o'clock, because that's dinner time for us in the office." Kenny now knows based on this remark that he is dealing with a full-scale operation, or at least a place with an office and other working amenities.

"I think the only thing left to do is give you directions of where you need to go to get to us. We're on Route 104, just south of Downtown Rustboro City. Make a turn to Iron and Nickel Alley, and you'll see our offices on a strip mall there. Our building has a red sign on the front which says 'Checks and Cash', but if you specifically ask the front desk for the name of 'Slim Sam', you will get everything that you need from there. Okay?"

"Okay, and luckily, I know where and what that route is," Kenny answers. "So thanks for all of your help and I'll be by your offices later today."

"We'll be looking forward to your visit this afternoon."

"Thank you, and have a nice day," he says, hanging up the receiver of his payphone and makes his way south of Rustboro City. Paying the visit to Slim Sam, who he assumes he spoke to on the phone just now, will complete step three of five to protecting his identity from anyone that would use it to his disadvantage.

Though he dares not speak of any great fortune out loud, he is happy that he has not faced any hiccups or roadblocks on his journey back from prison. The only reason he holds back any form of rapture is due to the fact that there is still so much left for him to do.

It is not over for him, by any means.

* * *

The embrace that sister and brother unexpectedly shared a few minutes ago has done more to strengthen the eternal bond they share than any family psychiatrist could ever hope to accomplish. May and Max hold onto one another for many reasons. One is that each can shoulder the other one's burdens and provide help and care like only a brother or sister could.

Max, with his baby on the way with his much older girlfriend, Misty, is holding his older sister May, who has carried on affairs with hundreds of other girls her age, participated in illegal drug activity, and planned a successful hit on one of the most popular pokemon trainers in the entire world, the latter no one knows about, including the man she traveled with, Kelly's chauffer Gordon.

If these two siblings who share more than a last name are going to find some semblance of peace and harmony in their life, they have decided that they have to do it together. It does not take words or speeches to do this, rather through their actions; they have shown themselves to be more than capable to stand up for one another in spite of the problems both know they have.

In tears due to more than just his wrongdoings, Max looks down at his sister, who, like him, is also crying out in frustration and other emotions flowing through her body and soul at the moment. "We're in deep shit, aren't we?" he asks May.

Looking up, May can still find a reason to smile, even laugh, as she answers her brother question, saying "If we'd be any deeper, we'd drown."

"Believe me, May," says another voice shakily, "you have not seen deep shit yet." At first, the siblings did not recognize the voice because it sounded very dark and detached from their standing point. Turning to the doorway, May could not have prepared herself for the ultimate in shocks even if she went to therapy. Right there by the doorway is a green-haired male just above five feet and eight inches in height. He looks as if he had been taking part in the same activity as the brother-sister duo, as his eyes could pass for seeded red grapes or Bing cherries during summertime.

"Drew," May says. "Hi there."

"You…" he screeches from his mouth. "You lay down there like nothing is wrong, like everything is the way it should be and like you have nothing wrong going on inside of you, and all you can tell me…is 'hi there'? Well…" Rolling his eyes for a second, he responds, "Hello May, or would 'cheating bitch' suit you better?"

Releasing her sister, an enraged little brother comes to her aid and comes face to face with Drew. Though the older male fired the first silo in what looks like an old-fashioned war of words, Max fired back with a call of "Hey!" and then he makes it clear that he does not like Drew's choice of words.

With flesh touching flesh as Max steps in close to Drew, the two young men can hear each other breathe hard. It is a tense situation, without a doubt. "Look, I don't give a fuck what you do to me," Max makes as plainly as he knows how. "You can call me whatever names are in the book, but you are _not_ gonna do that, period. Not while I am standing here and will stick by my blood no matter what, even if it means kicking your ass." Looking him directly into red-stained eyes, he continues, "I know she has done you wrong, I know you're mad as hell and want to…break things, do whatever, but at the very least, let her talk. She might have a reason for all…"

"Max, shut the fuck up!" Drew interjects, turning away from the trainer and then chuckling at the absurd remark that the teenage boy just made. Looking down at his girlfriend on the floor with her face covered trying her best to not look at the scene before her, Drew begins to lose grip of the reason why he fell for May in the first place.

At one time, she reminded Drew of himself as he started out and he became attracted to that. Now, when he looks at the sight on the floor, it disgusts him to no end. It is not the May he fell in love with back when they were just kids. It was the furthest thing the coordinator could get from being an extension or a reminder of himself, because even though he has not been the model boyfriend every step of the way, he would not cheat. It just was not an option for a relationship he thought would stand the test of time. Like the person on the ground, though, it fell flat on itself. "Let her talk, Max? She might have a reason—what the fuck? What goddamn…reason do you have—what would cause someone to betray another person like that? And it wasn't just one time, either! For six years this has been going on, May! Six fucking years you were screwing around with other girls behind my back. You said so yourself, so don't fucking deny it to my face!"

Hearing nothing from Max or the mass down on the floor in ruins, Drew does not understand why May is not yelling or screaming for any kind of forgiveness or, at the very least, some understanding. Perhaps what she talked about time in and time out about no longer being in love with him was true, but if May desires to have that kind of closure, the least that her current boyfriend deserves it to hear it face to face. "You're not gonna speak? You're just gonna keep taking this?" Looking up to the taller of the two guys, Drew asks him, "How's your plan working out now, Max? She's not even gonna talk to me when _everything_ is out in the open." Looking back in the direction of May, he adds, "I know everything, May! You don't have a fucking thing to hide! I saw in the…" Stomping out of the room, Drew goes back out into the hallway and finds the cosmetics case on the floor with one or two vials partially out of the case.

Coming back inside with the case in hand, Drew opens the case and pulls out its contents, one by one, with each vial telling a different story. "Winstrol, a favorite of horses, track athletes and professional wrestlers." Pulling out another, he says, "Andro; this is fake testosterone and is probably the reason why you have so many outbursts and mood swings when you train for bodybuilding. And you told me that you were into natural bodybuilding." Dropping that vial to the floor, Drew makes it clear that "I'm still waiting for what you have to say about all of this. Oh, Anadrol. This is probably the reason why you're using so much, Clearasil, huh? That acne is a real bitch, May, and so…"

Pointing his finger in the direction of Drew, Max makes it crystal clear that, "You've got one more time to do that, buddy, and if you do it, I'm gonna break your fucking face and that is not a threat. I'm telling you right here and now; don't beat her up about this. You are the man, so you give her some space, cool down your berating and degrading her like you are, and she will eventually tell you everything you want to know. Just give her time."

"When, Max? When she has to get up off the floor and shoot up again. When _she's _ready? Do we have to yield to the cheater? Oh, shit!" he sarcastically exclaims. "I forgot! My girlfriend's brother is an expert on these types of things, seeing that he gets women pregnant at the age when they could be studying to become lawyers."

"You take that back, Drew."

"I'm not gonna apologize for the truth," he answers. "I always suspected something…off about you and Misty, and now that I have known the truth since Friday night, I can say that my suspicions were on the mark. I only wish that I could have caught some clue or some hint from…her. It would have spared me a hell of a lot of heartache. Why the fuck are you still not talking to me!" he screams. "I don't get it!"

Bringing his head down, he pounds his hand onto the nearby dresser drawer and making the case that, "At the very least, I deserve an explanation! We've been together, on and off, for almost eight years. You had no problem looking me right in the face and telling me that you're my girl and that nothing would ever come between us. Now when everything is there and the writing is on the wall, the Delcatty has got your fucking tongue. At least tell me what happened. Tell me everything!" he asks, with his voice beginning to break and the tears once again flowing prominently on his face.

Max, who is looking at this scene off to the side, can only go so far in defending his sister before Drew starts to make a great deal of sense. If any other person were found to be doing or admitting the things that May has just admitted to the father-to-be, then they would at the very least say they were sorry. With questions of sincerity aside, there would also have to be some sort of request for forgiveness, but the bodybuilder remains silent while on the floor, hiding her face from the outside world. No one can really understand why she does this, and it all comes back to her unwillingness to defend herself when it counts the most. Her acts are cowardly and do not speak to the type of person she portrays on an everyday basis. One would call the façade nothing more than an outright lie cloaked by a sorry excuse for an individual.

Even people charged and eventually convicted of murder, knowing in their hearts that they are guilty of said crime, will testify in front of a judge and plead their innocence.

But May still lays silent while on the ground.

Going down to the ground, Drew sits next to May. Thinking that there might be something to handling this gently for now and then going deeper later, he has one simple request for May and leans into her ear to give it to the teen. "Will you at least look me in the face? Can I get that, and…then we can go from there. I won't hurt you, I won't yell, and I promise…we'll just talk. I just want to talk—no. I _need_ to talk with you."

Turning her neck about a quarter of the way in the direction of the young man's voice, she still has her hands over her face and has not changed this position in the last several minutes, or since Drew called her outside of her name in reference to her outside affairs.

Drew wondered how well this new tactic was working. May still covered her face and still didn't let a word escape through her mouth. Then, a break happens. Slowly but surely, May uncovers herself from her self made screen that cut her from everyone else in the room. Her eyes, just like her boyfriend's, are red with tears and appeal glossed over and watery.

Both boyfriend and girlfriend are shaking as they look at each other for only the second time that day. Neither knows how to begin what may be the most important conversation they have in their long time together. Neither knows whether they should make the first move or not until Drew finally gets up from the floor and asks May to do the same.

Using her very muscular arms as support to get her near 200-pound frame off the floor, she sits next to Drew on Max's bed. Watching the two split lovers sit on the bed, the sixteen-year old slowly walks toward the open doorway of his own room, content with allowing his sister and one of his good friends to let all their emotions out in the open and keep no more secrets from this point forward.

As Max walks closer and closer to his door to leave his room, Drew interjects himself saying, "Uh, Max? If you don't mind, I'd like you to stay here with us, please. Just shut the door and stay here, because you have a right to know, too."

Max sighs heavily and says nothing to his older friend. Instead, he shuts the door in front of him and stands by it watching the two experts in contests converse.

Drew sits to Max's left while May is on the right. Interlocking his fingers, Drew anticipates hearing something come out of the mouth of the girl next to him. "Just tell the truth. I'm waiting, May," he informs her. About a minute passes, and he still gets nothing from May whatsoever. "Okay. If you won't start, then I'll start. You've admitted that you don't love me anymore," he restates for May. Once again, he enters into yet another crying spell. Time passes and all he wants to know is "Is it true, May? You don't love me anymore?"

Hesitation before an answer of a raspy and soft 'no' comes out of the mouth of May marks the first bit of progress that Drew has made in the effort to get down to the real reason behind his girlfriend's behavior. It made Drew cry even harder than before. He can't remember feeling such raw emotion for something he knew to be true and that he couldn't deny or push to the side.

She knew that she had broken his heart into a million pieces, but at the same time, he asked for the truth and got it. May is absolutely sure that the next question or set of questions is coming very soon and they all stem from the fact that the affection they had at the start of their coming together is gone. "Okay, we're getting somewhere now. You don't love me," Drew says, "I wanna know what…happened?"

Though they were now sitting on the bed right next to each other, this did not mean that May would find it easy to look at the saddened young man. Quite the opposite effect happened. Even while May no longer covered her face with her hands and arms, she hesitated and clenched up at the thought of looking at him, much less revealing everything to him.

"You know how my mom and dad didn't like us…being together when we were so young?" she speaks. Drew nods his head as he remembers the battle they faced just trying to prove to their folks that they were in love. "I had some apprehension myself, and a part of me wouldn't shake that day at the coordinator's meet and greet when you would not defend me when that guy more or less called me a bitch!"

"I was just a kid, May!" he counters. "I was like twelve or thirteen years old! I didn't know any better. I was an immature kid at times, but the key word there is 'immature'. But that's changed, and…you had a lot to do with it. Hell, you had _everything _to do with it! You should have known that we have screw ups, because that's a fact of life for every couple. How in the world does that lead you to cheating on me?"

"Because I started to lose trust in you; another fact of life for couples! So that's why we broke up the first time, and that's when I got reintroduced to Kelly."

"And…that's when the affair started? After our first breakup?"

"No, the affair actually began between our second breakup and the third get together," May clarifies. "We became closer during the time I'm talking about and I ended up finding out that she is gay. During that time, we just became better friends than before. I was so pissed off with you and guys in general and when we talked together, I really started to open up to the idea, but nothing happened at that point. You came back into the picture a few months later apologizing to me and saying that you were wrong, so I took you back."

"Why did you take me back during that time?"

"My head was clear after thinking about it for a while. I thought about it, and you did make a childish mistake. You might have been trying to be one of the guys or something…it doesn't matter anymore. But at that point, I was willing to give it another shot. I forgave you, Drew, because things happen. I was still angry, though. You can't blame me for being mad at you for not taking a stand for—well, fuck me. You didn't even take a stand for _us_."

"Oh, hell no!" Drew exclaims. "Don't you dare play 'victim' here! I did things that I wasn't proud of, but not once did I ever lay down with a bunch of guys, or girls, while I was committed to you. So don't talk about taking a stand because based on everything I heard outside, you didn't do much of that during our time together, either! Two wrongs don't make a right, I know, but _your_ wrong…you know what? Keep going. Where are we now? Why don't you continue to tell me what happened?"

At the behest of the young man sitting next to him, May continues with the story. "The second time we got together," she speaks, "things were pretty good. I thought that we had made a change for the better and I could feel…that absence helped me realize that a part of me still wanted everything to work at that point. And that's when I saw something else happen that made me want to retch in the toilet and made me wonder; has anything _really_ changed between us? You know that I began working out during that time because I wanted to get into bodybuilding."

"Kelly is a champion bodybuilder," Drew recalls. "So you got into the same…hobby as your fuck buddy? Am I out of bounds when I say that, May? You know, the more you talk, the more I see all of these…clues or hints that I should have picked up earlier, but like a guy blinded by his emotions, I ignored. I should have seen this coming a _long_ time ago, but that's my fault."

"We weren't in a sexual relationship at that time," May once again clears up. "I've been sleeping with her for six years and at the time, I was thirteen. And I began bodybuilding because Kelly said it's a great way to get in shape and boost confidence."

"All right, we're past bodybuilding now. How did you start a relationship with Kelly behind my back? That's what I wanna know right now, May!"

Keeping her neutral look on her face, May takes a quick glance at her younger brother at the door. To her, he appears nervous as many of these details are foreign and new to him like they are to Drew. Staying at the door, for whatever reasons Drew has in mind aside from feeling that Max should know the truth too.

"Well, first off, the relationship began when ours ended…for the second time. I was convinced in my mind that there was nothing left for me in our relationship to salvage. That was the day I called you a hopeless prick, remember? We used to laugh about that day, Drew," she recollects. "We said that nothing would come in between us now that we've changed as people and that it would all go uphill. I said all of that while…Kelly and I had already been sexually active since the age of fourteen and we didn't get back together until more than two years later. God, could I ever lie! I've been living a lie for the past six or seven years."

"After we split, I went back to Kelly and told her that I was tired of being disappointed by men. We became girlfriends after that, we got very close and…started having sex. From that point, we never stopped. I was…there was a reason why I came back to you even through all of this."

Palming his forehead, Drew looks over to May. Scanning her face, he says, "I'd like to hear this reason very much. I am all ears, May. Please…tell me why."

"Well, one of the reasons you already know about, Drew, and this isn't something I can explain away or make excuses for or lie about. You know damn well that my parents don't like…people who love the way I do."

"That sounds like a big excuse, May."

"I'm not done, Drew!" she answers.

"I'm sorry, but that's the way I feel. Even if you're parents don't agree with what you are doing, and they _won't_ agree with what you've done, you have to admit this! You've done wrong, May and we all have to pay for doing wrong."

"I know, but I just can't bring myself to tell them!" she admits, sitting up from her seat on the bed. "They're the only family that I know and…losing them over my affairs just—try walking in my shoes. I start dressing like a tomboy more, if I'm not spending time with you, then my time is spent with Kelly in the gym, and…books by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler have become my bibles. I didn't want them to ask any questions, so…I went back with you so no one would suspect me being a lesbian."

"So I was pretty much your guinea pig just in case there was still some doubt about what your folks would do?" Drew is growing in anger the more that he hears come out of the mouth of the standing girl. Getting up from his seat, he meets May face to face and asks her, "Was that your plan from the get go?"

"No, my plan was to have Kelly to fall back on in case, once again, things didn't work out for us," she retaliates.

"Well, you certainly had a great backup plan. It's just too damn bad that you had to drag everyone you love into your mess. You had sex behind my back. I thought that we promised each other that we wouldn't do that until we were ready, but you broke that. And you say to me knowing all of this was wrong and still going through with it to 'Try walking in my shoes'."

Unexpectedly, Max whistles at Drew's latest comment. He certainly did go deep as far as his feelings were concerned and refused to cut corners as far as his opinion on the matter, which by no means was a positive one. The action causes both May and Drew to turn to the front door for a second and look at a somewhat embarrassed Max. Apologizing for the unconscious gesture, they turn back to one another and continue their discussion.

"You were gonna make love to me for the very first time tomorrow night, May," he states. "That was going to be your twentieth birthday present and if I didn't catch you admitting…the important parts to your brother, you would have lied down with me. You would have faked any pleasure and lied when you told me that you loved me, because I doubt I can give you any and you've already told me to my face that you don't. Maybe if I grew a vagina, I would have a chance but I digress. I could have slept with you and I would be shooting myself in the foot, because I have no idea what…diseases you might have or be carrying at the moment. You know what? I'll tell you right now, this isn't a joke and you know how I feel about those sicknesses. STDs are not fun. They can kill you, even if you are still alive. My sister, Ryan…was _raped_, May. Some sicko out there took advantage of her at ten years old!" Now, in what is becoming a pattern of activity for the young man, he cries once again. The pain of living through the time when a part of his sister's life was taken over four years ago became too much for him to bear without the pressure of remaining strong for his family.

Turning his head and body away from the coordinator, Drew covers his face much like May did several minutes beforehand. Knowing very well the story behind Drew's younger sister, she felt for him and wanted to lend a helping hand however she possibly could. Walking up to him in attempt to put her arms around him, Drew resists, saying, "Get your goddamn hands off me! I don't know where they've been, May, and I don't think I want to know. Sex isn't some sort of game, May. You can't play around with emotions and risk people's lives through sex. My family knows this quite well. Ryan got an STD from her rapist, and it went undetected for so long because she said nothing and because of that, she's sterile! She can't have kids! Do you why she said nothing, May?"

A few seconds of silence are a like clue to May that the young man's latest in a battery of questions was not a rhetorical one. If it were, then she would have already gotten the answer and more lessons learned from Drew. "We talked about this a while back. She was embarrassed and didn't want people to know that this happened to her. She was scared at how everyone would react, and for a while, she wouldn't even talk…about anything."

"Exactly. Ryan was embarrassed and ashamed about what happened. That's why she didn't come to anyone until it was too late. Rape kits could not determine if there was any DNA in her body from another person and…my parents tried to get some information out of her about the person who did this, but police and child psychiatrists said the same thing; 'Ryan won't cooperate with us'. It put a strain on the family for a long time. Mom and Dad almost broke up due to the strain it caused. Dad felt…emasculated by the whole process because Ryan wouldn't say anything. He had a helpless feeling and thought that he couldn't do anything about what happened to my sister."

Pointing to himself, directly in the chest, Drew adds, "_I _felt helpless, May, because someone I loved could not be honest with me and refused to reach out to me for some help! Had you told me from the very beginning that you were a lesbian, I would have helped you out however I could have. But you _used_ me, May! I was gonna be your little puppet in your games with Kelly, and you would have slept with me and given me…God knows what! Do you understand, May? I'm not trying to say things to compare what happened to Ryan to what you did, because there is no comparison. But you are ashamed, scared and embarrassed to tell your parents, or me, or Max or your friends what you did. You should be, but you should have been honest. You caught yourself in a lie that might cost you _everything_! I'm not crying for you anymore, May. If you don't already know it, we're finished…for good this time. It's over between us. But…if you can find it in yourself to have some sort of happiness and closure, you will do one thing. I don't care if you do it for me, you or anyone else, but I'm begging of you for once to do something."

"What's that?"

"All I care about is that you are no longer keeping this secret from the people who you claim to love," he admits. While May shakes her head in what looks like fervent disapproval of the mere thought, Drew continues, "I could care less how many times it happened or with whom. I'm just glad that I got out of the loop before it was too late. But you need to tell you're folks just what kind of daughter you are and you need to do that as soon as they get home."

"No way, Jose."

"Don't make this difficult, May! Remember, you're the one who went outside this relationship, not me. You don't get the right to call the shots anymore. You lost it when you cheated. Now is the time to pay for your slip ups. Tell your parents what you've told me and be done with it."

Still shaking her head, May ignores or more correctly, disregards the comments and suggestions from Drew. For a while, there is a great deal of silence in the room, until the sound of a door opening on the outside of the house followed quickly by a door opening inside of the house grabs her attention. If Max and Drew did not know it then, the call of "Kids, we're home!" from mother Caroline caused everyone in the house to do an about face and look down from the window of Max's room to find the family vehicle neatly parked along with Drew's Toyota by the door of the house/gym.

Looking at May with an arguably disturbing glance, Drew makes it very plain to the girl. Drew walks closer and closer to the bodybuilder to the point where he can hear her breathe. "Now or never, May." Still not getting any positive reaction from his now ex-girlfriend, he gives her an ultimatum. "Fine. If you don't tell your parents about all that you've done, then I will. It's your choice." Then, suddenly, Drew turns to Max, and asks him, "And as for you, you _are_ gonna tell your parents about Misty, right?"

"Yes, she's coming to Petalburg either tonight or tomorrow morning. We're gonna…figure out the plans from there."

"Good." Turning one final time in the direction of May, she seems to continue to hold her guard against Drew and his suggestion. "You should take a cue from your brother. Either way, your past will be coming back to haunt you, and that's not a threat." Heading for the door, he tells Max to get out of his way and Drew walks out of the room, presumably to head downstairs and talk with May and Max's parents.

It takes a few seconds, but realizing what could happen given that Drew could be alone with her parents telling them whatever he wants, she darts out of the room without saying a word to Max, who follows in her direction as they both head for the stairs in what would have been in any other scenario a long walk to perdition. This is far from that, and might be more accurately described as a sprint to the wire for the damned.

* * *

With the manual transmission of her high-powered sports car in reverse, Zoey backs the Ferrari into its spot in the family garage, neatly placing it next to the yellow Hummer. Giving herself the time to cool down and consider everything that she's about to do, Zoey can honestly say that she has a very clear head.

Getting out of the car, she locks the door, securing the red beauty and then she looks at the door leading into the house. After everything she has went through in learning the truth about her girlfriend, Zoey was floored. But now that she has thought everything over away from the watchful eyes and hearing ears of family and friends, she considers herself to be in a better position that where she was earlier in the day.

Using one of the many house keys to the island mansion, Zoey enters her house with her head up high and her intentions clear in her mind. Saying hello to most of her cousins and older relatives who have went inside during the hottest part of the day, she skirts some of their questions about where she has been for the past couple of hours. Zoey says that she has just been out and needed a bit of time to herself.

"Zoey?" asks a familiar voice. "Are you okay?" Looking around the extensive family room, she finally finds out that it was Rocky who asked the question and she wondered why she did not see her or recognize her previously.

"I'm fine, Rocky. Thank you," she answers. "I just need to speak with Dawn, and…things will hopefully get even better. Is she nearby?"

"Last I heard, Dawn was upstairs," answers her cousin Mitch while in the kitchen tending to a large bowl of white chocolate brownies for later. "I was just outside an hour ago, and I didn't see her there or coming into the house, so I can only assume she's still here."

"Thank you, Mitchell. This might take a while, so don't wait up on me."

"Hey, Zoey," Rocky calls before her younger sister can make her way up to the stairs. Hesitating for a second, she answers, "Good luck."

Zoey sighs for a long time. 'Good luck,' her sister said. Something inside her wanted to let her true feelings be known to the world, but she holds back with all her might stifling that emotion before it can bubble to the surface and fizz out before its time. No, this emotion had to be saved for the one person who was meant to hear it most. With a bit of a sniffle, she thanks her oldest sibling and walks up the stairs at a much slower pace than normal.

Compare it to a relationship she feels needs to take a much needed stop.

* * *

A/N: Oh…my…goodness! So much happening that everything looks like it is about to come to a head, and it will in the next chapter, the finale of season two of 'A Confession Gone Awry'. This finale includes…

-The Forrest versus Brock/James six-on-six pokemon battle in its entirety.

-A synopsis of the Corey/Dawn conversation.

-May and Max confronting their parents on their issues.

-Misty arriving in Petalburg City.

-Kelly getting in touch with May for the first time since Friday night.

-The saga that happened with Ash, Jessie, James and the Lilycove incident with Avenue Five.

-Kenny confronting Slim Sam and putting the finishing touches on his plan to go to Twinleaf.

And of course…

The Zoey and Dawn confrontation will happen!

This will be my longest chapter in all of writing, bar none! It will take a while, but I promise you won't regret reading it! Don't you dare go away because the season two finale is coming!

Until then, this is Rave!


	22. Reunion: Worth Saving, Part One

A Confession Gone Awry

Adman hears that K.C. has some problems. What he doesn't know is that they stem from him watching the news and Kelly's coming out. Kelly, a fan of Kevin's band _The Assertion_, has been trying to help him get a record deal with a major label. She also gets calls from Roxanne of the Rustboro Academy and Drew's younger sister Ryan who are both concerned about Kelly now being openly gay for different reasons. Jerry Fineman, a cousin of Zoey's, also calls to inform her that there might be a loophole in the rules that will give the Grand Festival championship back to May. She and Solidad go to a late lunch together.

Dawn can't find Zoey, but instead runs into Corey. They talk and come to a bit of an understanding about how neither of them can really control who they love or fall for. Corey expresses concern that they will be talking together alone, but Dawn assures him that he has nothing to worry about. Kenny puts the finishing touches on his look and goes to the next step and having his identification fitted for his look. He talks to a local person known only as 'Slim Sam', just minutes outside of the city.

It takes a while for him to crack May, but Drew hears the entire story from his now ex-girlfriend. He is heartbroken as he recollects a somewhat similar incident with Ryan, but holds his composure for the most part. His final word of advice to May is for her to tell her parents everything, which she refuses to do until Norman and Caroline come back home. She rushes downstairs with Max and Drew to meet them. Zoey comes back home after taking a few hours out with the Ferrari to cool down and do some thinking alone. Coming back home, she looks for Dawn. Rocky says she is upstairs.

NOTE: This is the finale of Season Two of 'A Confession Gone Awry' and after much consideration and conversation with others; I've split the chapter, which would have maxed out at 45,000 words, into two parts. This is part one and naturally, part two follows.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 22- Reunion Part 6: Worth Saving, Part One)

* * *

_FLASHBACK (Less than four years ago)_

_Opening the door to the hotel room with drinks and meals to eat in a canvas sack, Jessie looks on at Ash at the laptop punching the keys fervently as if he is attempting to meet an office deadline. Stopping only to turn around and see the person behind him who opened the door, he looks at Jessie and lets her know of a big development in the planned drug bust of Avenue Five. "I checked the GPS technology on this computer; apparently _Montana_ is foregoing a stop in South Korea to come to Lilycove City. There is some sort of an issue with supplies on the boat so the captains decided to make their stop further south as Lilycove has far more resources and supplies than the Koreas."_

"_Okay, it's heading for Lilycove; I understand that much," Jessie responds, "but when will it get here?"_

"_In three hours."_

_Mulling that over in her head for a bit, Jessie realizes that this is the moment she and Ash have prepared for over the past several weeks in the quest to get James out of the Avenue Five group by whatever means needed. Indeed, she is mentally prepared for the mission…she has to be otherwise she can kiss her friend good-bye for good. While her co-worker on this assignment has been a great help in having her be calm under pressure, the butterflies in the older woman still remain deeply within the pits of her stomach. That is one thing which the ex-Team Rocket operative just cannot help for the life of her._

_Noticing the look of his partner after informing her that the boat will dock in Lilycove in the time it takes to finish the theatrical cut of the movie __Scarface__ Ash has to make sure that Jessie is not developing cold feet going into their project. "Are you okay, Jessie?"_

_Still desiring to remain strong in front of her ex-rival, she shrugs of her more than apparent nervousness by saying, "I'll be fine. When I was in Team Rocket, I got involved in more than just my fair share of danger. When you go into another organization's territory without permission or prior agreements, you set yourself up for a dangerous situation. I guess the difference between those other times and now would be that…I always had James in my corner for them. This time, I have to work to get my partner back. It's different."_

"_Well, yeah. I can see how this would be unusual for you," Ash admits. "I myself have had to deal with forming alliances on short notice. What I've learned in those different unions is that sometimes it's best to think about what you can bring to the table to make the mission successful. If you still don't think that after all the work I put through in this project to make sure that we did not have a misstep or were at fault with our information that I'm not dedicated, then you go after James the moment you see him in this…raid."_

"_Don't get me wrong," Jessie counters, "I thank you for all that you've done to get this done and get James out of what is nothing short of a toxic environment. But with everything that we know about Avenue Five a part of me still wonders whether you value your life over helping someone…who is not a friend of yours and has actually been a more vocal enemy than anything else over several years."_

"_It's water under the bridge at this point, Jessie. I mean you said it yourself when you first came to me; there is no more Team Rocket meaning that you don't have any reason to lie to me about James, the drug-for-Pokémon trade or anything else for that matter. And besides; even if you have been a real pain in the backside I look like a real son of a bitch if I didn't at least help you. You guys were bad, but you're not bad anymore and I highly doubt that you were ever evil. Avenue Five? __They__ are evil."_

"_That is true. Ash, what—what time is it?"_

_Checking his watch, he says, "I've got…ten minutes after two for early Friday morning. That will give us some time to go over our plans for the bust." After taking a few swigs of his energy drink and being handed another bottle of energy soda, it is clear that Ash's main priority is to stay awake and alert for the job. Pulling out a few sheets of loose-leaf paper and bringing his laptop toward Jessie, he begins the systematic breakdown of the game plan going into the docks. "Okay, a lot of my time in the past couple of days has been spent looking for a spot where, if we need to, we can change into our Avenue Five apparel."_

"_Or we could do it right here in this hotel room and save the time?"_

"_No can do for two reasons," Ash counters. "One reason is that the docks are several miles away and if we look like we're sweating trying to get there, we'll stand out and we don't want to stand out at all. And the other reason is that if we try to check out of here with those suits on, then we won't be able to make it to the docks without someone questioning what we're doing."_

_Snapping her fingers, Jessie realizes that her partner in all of this is making a great point. "You're right. We shouldn't be standing out at all and…we haven't told—well, __I __haven't told anyone about what we're doing here."_

"_Well, neither have I for your information."_

"_Okay, good. Either way, you do get points for suggesting a place to change into the uniform duplicates instead of walking out of here looking like the enemy and opening ourselves up to being harassed by the police if someone decides to make a phone call."_

"_All right, then. Now," he continues pointing to a map on the computer screen and a map with the aforementioned sheets of paper next to it, "there is an alley five blocks from the port entrance and I think there is where we should change into our uniforms." As Jessie raises her hand in a form of protest, Ash adds, "And before you say anything, there won't be any lights on in this particular alley, so I won't see you when you change and vice versa."_

_Jessie has to bring her hand down once she hears those words come out of Ash's mouth. Whatever words that were about to come out of her mouth she's forced to swallow before they return to incriminate her. "Okay, good. Now I have another question. Where is this place where we change into the Avenue Five uniforms?"_

"_Well, obviously, we want to give ourselves some time to walk to this alley in…Coral Creek Street. That's a spot we can go and I know we won't be disturbed. I think it would be best for us to just give ourselves two hours to walk that five mile distance and then we will be within walking distance of the docks. The docks which lead to the Lilycove Port Authority are gated and require some kind of key card or other password for us to pass through. Luckily, though, I went to the gate late around this time on Wednesday and the gate isn't guarded by Port Authority police during this time. So we can wait there until about five in the morning, less than three hours from now, and then we will probably have to wait for about three or four white vans with the Roman numeral 'V' on the hood, the side doors or the back of the vans._

"_That's the moment where we'll sneak behind or off to the side of one of the vans and then run off behind one of the port containers and wait for the moment that they gather together and join up with them as the group leader gives them their instructions before getting the cargo off the ship. After that is when we'll search for James and get him out of there, and then we'll use either my cell phone or your cell phone, call the police and have them take care of this drug trade. After all, given the fact that they see this happening they'd look pretty damn foolish not to do something about it. Now what I want to know is what you think about all of this? Is there anything, and I mean anything that you can spot wrong with my plan? Is there something…really there that I missed and if so, what is it?"_

_Jessie knows that this is a question that she cannot take lightly at all. For even though the saying may be as clichéd as a decades-old slogan, this matter is truly one of life and death. "Give me a second," she replies. "I'm trying to think what, if anything could go wrong with this plan." Extracting all of her knowledge firsthand and otherwise about Avenue Five's operations, she attempts to deliberate what could go wrong in this plan._

_Then it hits her. Slapping the one table in the room, she says, "I've got it! Ash, do we have any idea how much drugs or how many Pokémon are being traded in this deal?"_

"_Well…I don't know," he answers. "I assume that it's a lot, but they have a lot of vans and space to carry all of this stuff!"_

"_The reason I ask is because the company's gaming and casino business uses armored trucks and 18-wheelers to transport most of their items, including bank notes," Jessie explains. "I'm wondering given the size of __Montana__, the size of this city and the amount of crime associated with large cities that…the Five might use those semis to transport their trade items."_

"_Well, that does make sense. So hiding behind these vehicles might be easier…then again, it could be more difficult, you know? We could realistically hang on to the back of the trucks and get in like that…"_

"_But that would depend on the number of trucks that comes in…and if they use trucks," she counters. "I'm not sure if they do use trucks for trades like this. We do have to prepare for whatever happens, though, so right now; let's decide right now how we'll handle the issue of transportation."_

"_Fine," Ash answers. "If just vans come into the port, then we can just run past the gate behind the vans and go to the containers before any of us can be seen by Avenue Five or Port Authority Patrol. If we have just semis and people taking the ride for this transaction inside the semis traveling and getting these materials back and forth, then that could be a different story as we might just have to flag down the last semi and take the ride inside the port while hanging onto the truck."_

"_Okay, I don't mind any of that," Jessie replies, "but what if we have a situation where we have both semis and vans to make this trade?"_

_Though he would never say it out loud and give Jessie the satisfaction of knowing that she was one step of him, Ash is thankful that that question came up because he did not think about the possibility of multiple types of vehicles used in this mission. "If we have multiple vehicles, then we can use whichever of the two options for the previous vehicles we're most comfortable with. And now that you brought that to my attention, there is another issue that came to my mind. How do we get to James and confront him about getting him out of Avenue Five in the midst of this trade? There is the possibility that he doesn't want to leave the group."_

"_Are you kidding me?" she asks him, almost insulted by the mere insinuation. "He's confused! I've seen this behavior from him several times in the past. I know that if he just sees me one more time and remind him about the fun we had the fun we can continue to have if he leaves the group, he'll look foolish if he turns me down. Absolutely foolish!"_

"_How sure are you?"_

"_Very sure, Ash! He's…just looking for purpose and if we can show him that there is more potential for it in his life if he gets out of Avenue Five, then we can get out!"_

"_Which is the final thing that I find a bit…off with my plan the more I think about it," Ash says, piggybacking on the latest admission from Jessie. "My plan has a great entrance strategy and a nice middle where we confront James—I assume away from the rest of the group members, right?"_

"_Yeah, I don't know if we could confront him any other way."_

"_Okay, all of that is well and good then," he concludes, "but due to the fact that the fence leading to the port is guarded by barbed wire and a large gate, I'm not sure how we can get out of there without getting caught. Perhaps if we make a run for it through another section of the docks we can leave without a problem, but like a lot of other issues dealing with this bust, it's much easier said than done." Ash now pulls out yet another sheet of paper, this time containing an overhead picture with pavement and asphalt on one half and murky water that looks darker than black on the other half. "I kept this secret for now, because I didn't think we would have to worry about it, but just in case everything else fails and we can get off the port the same way we came in, I have this exit strategy. There are a few low buildings just off to the side of the port that are no more than fifty feet tall. Also on those buildings are ladders which lead up to the roofs."_

"_Okay, but how do they realistically help us if they are on the other side of the port?"_

"_I'm glad you asked," he responds with a sly smile. Pointing to several spots on the map, he explains, "There are several cranes on the port property, maybe thirty in all. We can use one of them to lift a container about 150 feet up into the air, much more than we need to escape. I have it on very good word from Domino and Mondo, both formerly of Team Rocket, that there are some Avenue Five members who know how to operate cranes. They have no choice but to know this because all of the cargo they're getting this morning is coming from a large steamship. How else are they going to get these containers onto the harbor?_

"_So, in all honesty…I think that we could work on different areas of the port. You could work to convince James to leave the group and while you do that, I'll take out a crane operator using one of my Pokémon or some other method and I'll redirect a crane in the direction of one of these buildings. Once you get James to safety, we'll all climb up the crane and on top of the container and use our Pokémon, if need be, to hold everyone back as we jump to one of the buildings."_

"_Wow, that…sounds like a lot," Jessie ponders. "It sounds very dangerous and pretty complex if you ask me."_

"_Well, this is the worst case scenario, to be honest. I don't know how to operate a crane, though. That's my biggest problem."_

"_I know how to operate a crane," Jessie speaks. "James knows how to operate one, too. We got the experience while working under your dad in Team Rocket. Maybe we'll luck out and he'll be one of the operators so we can kill two birds with one stone. Okay, that sounds good and the fact that I know he can operate a crane does make me feel better about this plan, even if it is a worst case scenario."_

"_Good," Ash says. "See? All it takes is a little trust and we can come to a great understanding."_

"_I guess."_

"_So that about covers everything I think there is to cover with one final exception; just when do we make the call to the police?"_

'_That's a good question,' Jessie thinks. Now speaking her thoughts, she makes the case for both options. "We can't call the police too early; otherwise they might arrest us or everyone in Avenue Five for this operation. I mean, the most important thing is that we get James out of there and out of harm's way, right?"_

"_Yeah, I agree."_

"_And if we call the police too late, then they might miss them. Maybe from the time we get into the port until the time we get James on our side, we should consider making that phone call."_

"_Or we could make sure that we earn James's trust and then call the police and bail."_

"_That would be a better plan," Jessie admits, "because nothing is guaranteed until it actually happens. So to recap what we want to do one more time before we get our stuff and check out of here at last; we walk to Coral Creek to change into the uniforms so that we don't look like we're sweating in our suits and don't attract attention. We hide just a few feet away from the gate and wait for the trucks; vans or both come to the gate. We'll flag them down once they come to the gate and follow them past the wall. There, we convene and reaffirm our plan away from the group behind one of the containers on the port grounds. Once they start to unload the cargo, that's where we'll make our move and get James, call the police and then leave. Is that it?"_

_Nodding, Ash hears everything and knows that Jessie has not missed a beat. With no stones left unturned he answers, "I see nothing wrong or out of place in that summary. So with that in mind, are you ready to check out and make this happen?"_

_Pounding the table, Jessie affirms her readiness. As if Ash needed any more confirmation, she adds "Let's do it!" before getting up from her seat and picking up the hotel phone to dial down to the lobby for an overnight check out. While she waits for a dial tone, her partner in this bust goes into the closet to get all of his items together in his large backpack._

_Tapping her feet onto the carpeted floor as Ash now begins to gather up all of their belongings from the bathroom; Jessie awaits the dial tone from the front desk to confirm their upcoming checkout in just a few minutes. "Front desk?" are the words which come from the receptionist in the downstairs lobby._

"_Um, hi there," Jessie responds. "This is the… people in room 311 upstairs. I'm just calling to confirm a checkout for Ketchum and Palmer in the next couple of minutes. Is that all right?"_

_The lady at the front desk types some of the information onto her keyboard which Jessie gave her over the phone. After a few seconds of the system loading, she sees the names of both an Ash Ketchum and Jessie Palmer, just as the woman on the phone told her. "Yes, I see no problem with that. I also notice that you two have paid with your credit cards with all of them coming in approved. All I ask of you two is that you empty the room of all your possessions, send your key cards to the front desk and you'll be free to go. Is that okay?"_

"_Yes, and thank you," Jessie answers. "We'll be down in just a few minutes." After informing the desk of this important detail, the one on the phone hangs it up and suddenly develops something deep inside her throat. She knows that in just a few minutes time, all the preparation will have to come together to help out a person she considers a true friend. Helped only by someone she considered a twerp just a few years ago, Jessie takes on one of the most important missions in her lifetime whether in or out of crime. For the first time in a long time, she will be one of 'the good guys' and the feeling of walking into a dangerous and potentially deadly situation causes her to feel that cool drip of perspiration on top of her forehead._

_Before she can go any further and think of the great risk they are taking and how much easier it would be to just ask Avenue Five for James's release by giving them money from his parents, Ash pats his older partner on the shoulder and says, "I got everything out of the closet and the bathroom. When I put away the laptop you can get all of our paperwork and check everywhere else for what we might have left here and we'll be all set to go! Got it?"_

"_Got it," she answers and she checks everywhere else Ash didn't check; from under the floor to in the drawers of the hotel dresser. She can't find anything else that belongs to them or is worth keeping so she declares the area clear. A minor amount of tidying up of the bed and other items in the room is all they do before turning off the light in their room, opening it, closing it and finally locking the door behind them and heading down the two flights of stairs in the hotel._

_Near the automatic doors leading to an inexpensive but by no means seedy hotel is the lobby where a casually-dressed young woman watches two young adults come to her. Both of them are dressed in dark clothing and look like they could pass as teens, but both of them have been proven to not fit that description of youth._

_Handing this receptionist, named Linda, their keycards, she gives them a release form in return. Both Ash and Jessie sign the form at the line below without even bothering to read its contents. Once every base has been covered, Linda takes back the form and wishes that both of them "Have a nice evening and thank you for staying in the Lilycove Lofts!"_

"_Thank you," they both respond in unison as they take their large backpacks and other bags with them outside of the hotel door and off to Coral Creek Street and the Port Authority where __Montana __will dock in less than three hours time._

_The cool air of this early spring evening does what no amount of assurance from Ash could do in the past two weeks of mission planning; it calms Jessie down prior to the five mile walk she is about to do. While she is game for the walk as she has had to walk much longer distances to get to various places all over the Pokémon world, she doubts that she'll ever have a longer walk in her life._

_But every foot of it will be worth it once she gets James back and away from the criminals of 'The Five'._

_END FLASHBACK_

* * *

Calmly walking down the stairs, Drew looks around the house from the middle of the steps in search of the Maple parents. He left both May and Max behind to consider all of the words he said just a few minutes before leaving them behind. Checking the front door, he notices both Norman and Caroline entering the house, but there is a third individual who walks in as well.

'Who is that?' Drew asks as he goes all the way downstairs to see both parents in the kitchen of the house and a younger woman alongside them. The secret is out and the person is obviously, "Misty?"

"Drew? What are you doing here?" When Misty arrived to the Maples house in Petalburg after a lengthy bus ride and a taxi cab leading to the house, she had no clue that Drew would still be in the house. It was quite the puzzler, but she took it all in stride and did not get fazed by the coordinator's appearance in the house.

Quite frankly, she found the fact that he was still there to be a good thing. Having Drew here meant that more people would bear witness to the news and she would have to reveal the story less times than if he were not there. She did remember Max telling her that he came to the house as part of a vacation and looks at her glass as being half full in this instance. Should Norman, who was the person that invited her into the house to see the family and talk for a bit, snap in response to her news there will be more people to hold him and Caroline back.

Hesitant as she may be about his appearance, Misty shakes Drew's hand as both May and Max come downstairs with a great deal of haste. "Huh?" May questions when she sees exactly who is in the house. "Misty, how did you get here from Cerulean?"

"I took the bus, May," she replies. "There is something that I really need to get off of my chest here and now and…I'm gonna need Max's help." Pointing in the direction of the trainer she says, "You know what I'm talking about."

"But I didn't think that you would come here until Sunday morning!"

"Wait a minute," Norman speaks in confusion to what sounds more like code speak than conversation.

"Well, I couldn't wait," she responds matter-of-factly. "I mean, I'm sure that this news has had you on edge for a while. At least that's what you've said to me on the phone."

"That's right, Misty," Max counters, "but I wish that you would've said something to me earlier on the phone. I don't really mind the fact that you want to get this over with…"

"Hang on a second," Caroline interjects during this brief pause from her son.

"But there is a part of me that feels if we're gonna trust each other with something this important, then we need to communicate and that communication has to be give and take. You can come to the house and say whatever you want to me and my family, but I have to ready myself, too. You understand?" he asks moving closer to Misty and pulling her into a hug.

"Yeah, I get it," she says.

She might get it, but there are two people in the house right now who are completely taken aback by all that has occurred in just the past couple of minutes. From a bit of a tiff to an embrace by their son and the Cerulean City gym leader in the aforementioned amount of time, Norman has no idea what's going on and lets everyone in the room know by saying, "I don't get it!" quite loudly. "Could someone let me in on what is going on? I'd like to know because…I really don't get it and I would like to get it. I would like to understand what you, Misty, need my son's help with. I mean, he is my only son and I would like to know that he is doing okay in whatever is happening in his life. You understand that I have that right, do you?"

"Yes, sir," she answers, beginning the process of appeasing her boyfriend's father. "I think we should all just…sit down and say it. Now or never, right Max?"

"That's right. Mom? Dad? Could we all talk? I really do need to let you know this right now."

"All right," Norman concedes and then he along with everyone else in the room decides to sit down in one of the three different couches in the room. "Max? Misty? You have the floor. Now what is this thing that you need to let us know…right now?"

Purposefully sitting down together on one of the couches in the family room, Max grabs the hand of his girlfriend and smiles in her face in a sign that everything will be fine no matter what happens. Either that was the intent of the younger gentleman or he is attempting to make the best of a really terrible situation that's about to occur. They both know that they are revealing to Norman and Caroline more than just an unwanted pregnancy.

"Well, mom and dad, I just want to say that…I have made a very terrible and stupid mistake that I will work the rest of my life to correct. But…it's important for the two of you to understand how I've gotten to this point. Will you promise not to interrupt me before I say that my story is finished?"

Looking at the couple intently, Norman attempts to get a clue of this union in his head and wonder what all of this back story and past has to do with the mistake Max mentioned at the very beginning. "Again, you have the floor. Now what's the story?"

"It began about three years ago when I made my rounds through the Kanto region and challenged all of the gym leaders," Max begins. "I headed into Cerulean City that night and decided to get something to eat before I went into that Pokémon Center to rest before my gym battle. When I went to one of the local restaurants, I saw a problem happening right in front of my feet and reached out to help."

_FLASHBACK_

_Walking through dark streets and alleyways where one can barely see his hand in front of his face, thirteen-year-old Max Maple searches through the different abandoned areas to find a spot which his sister described as a diamond in the rough in downtown Cerulean. It was a small and quaint restaurant situated deep within the area and those fortunate few that can find it are in for a real treat as the owner has a reputation of being one of the finest chefs in the entire region._

_Getting there can be just as much an experience as eating at this place, known as _'Blue World'_. As Max seemingly gets closer and closer to this spot, he comes across what would amount to the seedy underbelly of the city. Amongst the many amenities found here are several liquor stores, low-quality taverns, a small convenience store surrounded by a thick chain-link fence, numerous abandoned buildings which seem to stretch as far as the naked eye will allow and numerous homeless people scattered throughout the street and the sidewalks. Indeed, this portion of the city will never make any travel brochures but Max could care less as he spots a sign for _Blue World_ up ahead. _

_Smiling, he gets a great feeling of invigoration as he walks the sidewalks in the direction of this so called 'must dine restaurant'. Passing a bar on the way, he has an unexpected run in with a person who has just been thrown out of the bar. More correctly, this woman has been shoved out of the doors of the bar and into the pathway of Max, knocking both him and her down to the sidewalk._

"_I'm not gonna tell you this anymore! You've had enough!" screams this guy, who is presumably the manager of the bar. "I'm not giving you any more beer. I don't care if you have the money or that you're the Cerulean City gym leader or anything else. You need to stop trying to cure your fucking problems with alcohol and just…get over it! He's chosen her! It's done!" He exclaims before shutting the doors and heading back inside the bar._

_Once he has left and the pissing contest has seemingly come to an end, the woman feels it necessary to get her emotions out in the open for whatever it is worth. "Well you know something?" she says with her speech slurred, "You can go fuck yourself! You don't know the half of it! You're just like all the other guys; nothing more than a bunch of fucking pigs in slop! You don't care! You don't give a fuck!" She protests as she starts to cry. The effects of excessive alcoholic beverages now begin to truly rule the mind of the Cerulean Gym leader as she continues her rant. "I still can't believe he would do this to me—to us! He's still with Jessie and they're happy? He should be with me! I was with him during that time giving him support and he wants to wallow with that witch? What the fuck did I do wrong?"_

_Getting up from the sidewalk after listening to Misty beat herself up about apparent love lost; he decides to get to the bottom of her sadness as carefully as he can. "Um, excuse me?" Max questions Misty._

_Turning around while in her drunken haze the gym leader screams out an inquiry of her own to this person who just poked at her shoulder two times. "What do you want?" are the very loud words which come out of her mouth while she turns around to confront this soul who obviously has a death wish. Even with her kaleidoscope vision, she can see the thick-rimmed glasses with a pewter tint and jet black hair with the help of the faint artificial lighting keeping the streets a nice tinted vermillion during evenings._

_Softening her face for a moment, she says, "Oh, Max," in a very apologetic tone. She appears to be legitimately regretful for the way she just treated a good friend. "I'm…I'm sorry for snapping at you like I did. I…forgive me but I've been a mess for the past few months."_

"_You wanna talk about it?" Max asks her, feeling a bit more comfortable speaking with Misty, even if she is in her drunken state. "The worst that could happen is that you'll feel better."_

"_What are you doing around here this late at night?"_

_Though the inquiry was not on point Max does feel like he can earn the trust of the broken young woman if he just answers whatever questions come out of her mouth. "Well, if you want to know, my sister referred me to a restaurant around these parts."_

"Blue World_," she whispers before falling into Max's arms while wailing out her anger and frustration through her tears. Not knowing anything else to do in this position, Max just gives Misty a hug and makes certain to hold on tightly and not let go. _

"_Just tell me what happened, Misty," he requests. "I promise whatever it is, I'll…I'll do my best to make it better."_

_While in the protective arms of another, the gym leader almost scoffs at the idea that little Max Maple could help her out of her misery. On a whim, he asks the very ambitious boy, "Can you knock some fucking sense into Ash Ketchum for me, because I'm afraid that he might have lost it!"_

'_Now that's a name I haven't heard in quite a while,' he ponders. Combined with that, it is a person he has not seen in quite a while since starting his training and going on his own journey. Not since the battle Ash promised him once he got his ducks in order as a trainer has Max seen the Pallet Town resident. He's talked to his older mentor but hasn't really gotten in touch with him or his family. _

_Then Max remembers the very unique request of Misty to find this trainer he has not seen in about two years and to knock sense into him, for lack of an exact quotation without appearing obscene. "What—okay, I know that you and Ash don't exactly agree on…battling principles or much of anything else. What happened between the two of you that caused this…feeling?"_

"_Well, I'll let you in on something that no one knows but me," Misty speaks as the stench of alcohol travels from one mouth to a nose. Max does his best to not show that the smell is quite revolting so as not to insult his friend in any way. "I've always had feelings for him even if I didn't show it. We'd fight, for sure, but there would be these instances right when he was just starting out that I'd see him…really shine and really look like a great guy that knew what he wanted out of life and had that part of him down pat. So I kept following him, mostly because he owed me a bike but another part of me liked his determination to be the best in everything. It might have been annoying at times, but when he puts his mind to something there is nothing that can stop the guy, you know?"_

"_Yeah, that's right," he says as he lets go and asks if they can walk back to her gym. She agrees and they leave the downtown area for the suburbs where the gym can be found. Without question this will derail his plans to go to _Blue World_, but for Misty he doesn't mind making a rain check on what is supposedly awesome food if he is to take his sister's word._

"_So as I was saying, I had a great run with Ash and we spent quite a bit of time together until he got my bike back," Misty says now walking with Max to the direction of the gym. Occasionally, Max will have to hold the woman, who is eight years his senior, and make sure she does not fall flat on her face while walking. "It was tough for me to decide to head back home and restart my original career of gym leader, but I did it in the hopes of seeing if my feelings would change at all or if he'd finally get it and come to see me to make it official. Neither of these things happened and…I guess I got very comfortable were I was in my life. I became one of the most respected gym leaders in the entire nation; I made six figures a year and got bonuses and endorsements from all over the world. I'll admit I had a great life at that time, but I never forgot about Ash…ever."_

"_And…what do you make of your life right now?" Max asks, already knowing the answer. _

"_It sucks," she replies. "I can't think of any better words to describe it. I mean, just a year ago, things were going great for me…and they got even better because Ash decided to take some time off and see me at times. He talked with me most days and after a while he scheduled a night for us to go out because he had a big surprise for me. I got ready for that night and even made the suggestion to go to a place in my area called _Blue World_. I anticipated something great and grand to happen, or at least to start. I could have been knocked down by a feather when I peeked through the glass window and Ash there at one of the tables laughing and joking with Jessie, formerly of Team Rocket." _

_Needing to pause for a second to take everything in and not trip over herself or her words again, Misty takes time before she adds on to her story. "I barged in and asked him what this was all about and he said that he got together with Jessie around the same time he got back in contact with me. It was his idea to have this…date so that Jessie and I could possibly become friends. I told him right to his face that he was crazy. I said he was taking a gamble being with the…woman who tried to steal your Pikachu all these years. Asking us to become friends is not something that was on my 'to do' list then or now._

"_He's such a stupid ass. He didn't know what he was missing. I told him that I loved him, but…he said that he didn't return the feelings." This causes her to really cry like a banshee and stop while walking through the shortcut leading to the woods. She leans against a tree in the woods and slumps down to the ground during the dead of night. "He said that he's…been through more with Jessie than I could even understand and that he's spent enough time with her that he knows he's making the right decision. That's why I say he needs some sense knocked into him one of these days because he isn't talking any sense. I wasn't gonna stick around to make buddy-buddy with Jessie. Fuck that bullshit. I threw my drink right into his face and I just ran out of there and told him never speak to me again. Six months later and we haven't talked. I've just been doing a lot of drinking, pissing, moaning, groaning, bitching and saying 'woe is me' most days and hanging out with...a bad crowd. I've been a wreck. My sisters don't even want to talk to me anymore because they think my drinking has gotten out of control. Can you believe that?"_

_Max was about to answer that he can believe why his sisters wouldn't want to associate themselves with an alcoholic even if it was their baby sister in a great state of duress. He would have done that, but Misty felt something within her start to bubble up to her mouth which would not stop. Turning onto her belly, she throws up as she can no longer hold in her alcohol after another lengthy night of drinking at the bar. For the next two minutes, she lets loose a generous amount of regurgitation in the woods. She only stops to take breaths and get oxygen back into her blood and get rid of the diuretic poison. _

"_Look, you need to get home now," Max states, laying down the line towards Misty. "Just how many drinks have you had tonight?"_

"_Ten, but who the fuck is counting and why the fuck do you care so much?"_

"_Drink too much and it will kill you. That's why I'm counting, and…I care because I'm a friend watching another friend ruining her life because she got rejected by a guy. Look, if you want I can take you home and I can go about getting you some help because you damn sure need it."_

"_There you go," she counters, "just like every other guy. You think you know it all when you have no clue. You're just like Ash Ketchum in that way."_

"_Misty, this isn't you here! It can't possibly be you!" Max exclaims. "You wouldn't be this cold with me if it were really you. That's the beer talking, Mist! If you knew that, you'd know that I'm not like that bastard to not even have the courtesy to tell you that I'm taken and the person who I'm with! Come on, you know that I'm better than that! We haven't seen each other for so long, but…I'm not that kind of guy you're talking about. We need to take you home…now! Okay? We'll go home, you'll sober up and I'll get you some help."_

"_Don't treat me as if I'm some goddamn charity case," Misty drones. "Whatever I've done to myself I deserve. For waiting for someone to come and hoping that they'd feel the same way I do? Why don't you just leave me here and go away…little boy?"_

_Whether it was the cynicism found in her voice that was more prolific in its nature than the alcohol or the insulting way that she called him a child, Max refused to stand for anymore back talk from a twenty-one-year old who can't seem to get over a first love lost. While she is on the ground lamenting her current situation, Max shakes Misty right to the core and screams directly into her face begging and pleading for her to, "Snap out of it! Please stop it! It's the alcohol talking, Misty! You can't live your life like this! If you want to be miserable the rest of your life and worry about things you can't control, then by all means stay here and puke your fucking guts out for all I care! But if you want something better than medicating yourself with beer, then get your ass up and let's go home! Fuck Ash Ketchum! Fuck him! It's over between you two! You've just gotta move on! You missed it, now fucking get over it! Get over it or die a miserable fucking wreck!" After this long and loud rant from the young man Max finds it difficult to find anything else to say and just breathes very hard as the screaming has forced all of the blood up to his face likely turning it a light red. _

_Still keeping a tight hold onto the older woman, he forcefully lets go and has her fall down to the dry dirt ground. "Look, I didn't mean to be so forward but how else can I get through to you? You were talking nonsense. It's not the end of the world if one guy doesn't fall for you. Just…let me help you get over it. I'll take as long as I need to help you forget him and let you go on with your life without Ash. I'll help you get clean if you want…if you want." Bringing out his hand he asks Misty, "Will you accept my help, go back to the house and forget all of this?"_

_The compassion and the caring…it's not something that Misty is used to in the least bit. She always felt that since the incident with Ash, which has now passed a period of about four months since it happened that she would never find a real quality guy. Despite this proverbial waving of the white flag, here was a young man that appeared to break the mold in most categories she placed and labeled men. Perhaps the reason was that Max is not a man, at least not yet. He did not grow to mistreat people for petty reasons like sex or gender roles after some sort of negative experience and instead reached out to those in need, sight unseen. It felt good to her and it was worth a shot to at least try to improve her current state of mind._

_With that, she reaches out to the helping hand of the young one and pulls herself up from the ground and walks with him home. While restarting their track, Misty feels obligated to say something to him. "Max, thank you. Thank you for…trying to help me and make me feel better. I'm sorry if I insulted you there by calling you a little boy. That fact is that _I'm _the one who's been acting like a spoiled brat who hasn't gotten their way. I don't have Ash and I act like I'm entitled to him when I'm only really entitled to the air I breathe in this life. You're only a child in age, Max. You gave me a reality check and I thank you for that."_

"_I just want to help however I can," Max assures her. "I don't want to just watch wrecks happen in front of my eyes and pretend that they didn't. I'll say it again, I want to help and that's starts as soon as we get you home."_

_END FLASHBACK _

"So I took time out of my schedule to help Misty get sober," Max continues. "It was not easy and it required most of the resources from her sisters and money that they generated from the gym. It started with alcohol detoxification, and then we took her to the Hoenn region away from family and friends and all the other triggers to a nice treatment facility in…Lilycove City. I visited her often and talked to her until she graduated from the program after 90 days. Do you guys remember her taking time away from her gym leading duties during that time?"

"I do," Caroline answers, "and I think that was very brave of you to keep an eye on her during a difficult time and make sure that she got through her demons and all of her other vices without much of a hitch."

"But I've got a problem with how you handled some of these issues," Norman interjects. "If you found Misty in a bad neighborhood and she was drunk, why not call the police and have them handle everything?"

"I wanted to keep my issues…private and out of the hands of the muckrakers in the media," she answers while still holding Max's hands. "My family tried to get me into rehab several times before Max stepped in and I always wanted to keep my recovery private so that nothing could stand in my way of its success."

"If I took it to the police," Max adds, "then at that moment Misty's problems become public and she won't be able to live that down at all. So I made it my own personal mission to keep her name out of the limelight and I did. The most important thing in my mind to do for Misty was make it very clear that I was her friend. She didn't really have anyone else to call a friend at the time she went on her lengthy binge so I stepped in and did it."

"Okay, I understand all of this, Max," Caroline says, "but you said that you made a very…stupid mistake. I hear you being a not good, but great Samaritan towards Misty, but what mistake did you make?"

'Here we go,' Drew thinks as he looks at Max and Misty sitting together and anticipates what will happen. While he awaits Max's words, he gets a good look at May, sitting on the other couch by herself. He really does not regret the words he spoke to her earlier in the least bit. In the event that May decides to chicken out and hide behind her younger brother's confession, he will strike and tell from his perspective the truth about his now ex-girlfriend to her parents. Staring at her directly into the eye, Drew sends a particular message to May in his thoughts. 'You're next,' he ponders, hoping that the word got to her through some method.

"Okay, I was about to say this because it…has very much to do with the story I just told you two. Afterwards, a few things happened. A year of…truly becoming great friends and assisting each other however we could and feelings started to develop." Hesitating because he knows that this is the clincher of the entire story, Max continues, "I'm talking about…romantic feelings."

"What?" his parents reply in unison.

"Misty is my girlfriend."

"Max, you are 16 years old!" Norman states. "Misty is 24, that's eight years your senior! How does that happen?"

"I don't know, dad! I…I guess it had to do with me seeing how far Misty had come and the time she did it. I wanted to make sure that she didn't fall off and that she didn't go back to the way she was. I also admired her for her accomplishment and that's when the feelings began."

"How could you, Misty?" Caroline questions the younger woman. Pointing in her direction, she makes it clear to the Kanto resident, "That is my son, damn it! I don't get why you couldn't be with someone your own age! Max may be very mature for his age, but he's still a child. He's still _my _child! What in the world would cause…what is it in your head that's telling you that doing this is right? Do you know what people think—how people perceive you when you carry on relationships with _children_? Wait. Do not answer that yet…until you answer this." Max's mother is very afraid to ask this question, but it came to her and she had to figure this out. Slowly, she inquires, "Misty Waterflower, have you or have you not…had sex with my son?"

Keeping the grip on her boyfriend as strong as ever Misty stands strong in her beliefs with respect to her relationship with the youngest Maple sibling. Being very honest with Caroline, she says a simple "Yes," preparing for the worst.

Fuming inside and detesting a certain redhead in the house, Mount Caroline starts to blow with a small but impactful muttering of the words, "You bitch," before she gets up from her seat and goes across the room to slap the aforementioned female dog on her cheek.

Misty seeks to get up and get back to Caroline about her action, but Max stops her from doing it understanding that discretion will be the best course for the pair for now. "Misty, sit down," Max commands as calm as he can. "Come on, that's my mother. We need to get along no matter what. You know that. You know what's next!"

"I don't know why you stand up for that drunken whore, Max!" Caroline comments while pacing back and forth in the living room. "She's probably patrolling the local grammar schools behind your back!"

"Okay, you know something? You are not gonna speak to me like that, period! I don't care who you are; you're making these judgments and you don't even know the story, Caroline! I've changed…and all the thanks for that goes to your son!"

Standing up to tend to his wife, Norman makes the very legitimate statement "And we're very glad for you, but if you wanted to get involved with my son you should have come to me first. You failed to do that, though!"

"Because I had a pretty damn good feeling that you would have said no!"

"Well we're never gonna know if that would have happened or not! That's something that will remain a mystery because you just wanted my son so badly. Why? Again, I don't know because no one seems to regard my role as father! What we do know is that you just told us to our face that you've been having sex with our son! You talk about this…whole story; well I'm not the police, Misty! I'm not in it for the whole story; I'm in it for my son—my _child_ and his safety!"

"You're son is becoming a man and a damn good one at that," Misty counters. "I know in my heart of hearts that he and I will have a great relationship together that will keep going on until we grow old and our hair turns gray."

"Bullshit! I know there's a law out there that says that you're guilty of statutory rape of the first degree because he just turned 16 two months ago this April!" Norman retaliates. "You've been together…what two or three years? How many of those years did you spend turning him into your own personal pleasure thing?"

"Dad, I love you, but you've got it all wrong!" Max defends. "Misty never forced me to do anything and I never forced Misty to do anything. All of it was consensual and for your information, we've had sex since for just over a year and the age of consent is flexible according to the ages of both partners."

"Max, you really shouldn't concern yourself with this at the moment," Norman assures his son. "In the eyes of the government, and more importantly your mother and I, you are still a boy; a child. And for you to sit there and defend her and everything that she's done…well, you're showing me how much of a child you truly are."

"Well, let me grow up!" he answers. "Let me be with Misty, dad! We've never left a conversation mad at one another, we understand each other and…"

"You're talking a lot of nonsense right now, son! You really think you can carry on a love affair with a person eight years older than you who thinks differently than you do and is probably wondering about marriage and working and…starting a family. You're too young for that! Enjoy your damn childhood, boy, for as long as you can because once it passes you, you don't get to live it again. And if you try, people will _really _think you're crazy!"

"Well, call me crazy! Call me nuts, but I feel like I have to stay with her!"

"Boy, don't raise your voice to me," Norman says with fire in his eyes just like his wife before him. "I know you haven't lived here in four years, but I'm still responsible for you even if you are outside of these four walls. I can call the police right now and lock her ass up before I allow you to make a mistake that may cost you more than you can imagine."

"You wanna bet, dad?" Max asks, testing his father. "What makes you think I haven't already screwed up now?"

"Don't try me, boy! I do know ways to keep you two apart if I have to!"

"You do it and I'll leave here right now and I'll never speak to either of you two again."

"Caroline, did you hear that?" Norman questions his wife. He looks over into her direction to see that she has covered her mouth with her hands, presumably in shock of what she just heard from her only son. "I'm being threatened in my own house by my own son!" Walking closer to the teenage boy he asks him sincerely, "I wanna know what happened to you, Max? I know you wouldn't say things like that if there wasn't something wrong that's happening in your life. I'm talking something very wrong!"

"And there is, dad!" Max replies. "I did something very wrong and I need to stay with Misty as long as I possibly can to make up for it! It's the only way!"

"What does she have to do with it?"

In this exchange, an unexpected screaming of the words "No, it can't be!" reverberates throughout the house. With everyone except Norman knowing what this secret is, no one feels shock to hear this from Caroline, who now walks step by step towards Misty with her eyes squinted and her body shaking from top to bottom. Her head is down as the thoughts in her mind, which center on the Cerulean City gym leader, make her sick to her stomach. She holds herself together for the time she does long enough to ask her, "Are you carrying my son's child, Misty?"

Misty has few options on her plate. Her best option, which is also her first and only choice in her mind, is to just tell the truth. "Yes," she answers Caroline.

Nodding for a second, Caroline appears calm to everyone in the room. As they await any incident going out of hand or potentially erupting into something bigger the rest of the room instead sees Caroline go back to her original seat on the couch and say to Misty and Max, "Both of you sit down…now. That goes for you too, Norman. We're all gonna have a nice little talk about this and…all of your future plans from this point forward."

* * *

Walking to the street corner of Iron and Nickel in Rustboro City, Kenny is determined to not let a lack of directions deter him from his ultimate goal. It has not even been half an hour since he got off the phone with someone who gave him the area to go to for his identification. Aside from all of this, he only knows of the name Slim Sam; a name that could be anything or nothing at all.

It intrigues him, but only for a moment. He has to be focused if he is going to find Dawn and not get caught in the act. As Kenny turns the corner, he sees that there is an extensive strip mall off in the distance. He sees this as getting one step closer than he was just seconds prior. He runs, which is something he has not been able to do under his own volition for quite a while. During jail time the guards would force him and other young teen males out for cross country runs in order for everyone to stay in shape for manual labor from before sundown until long after the sunset. Having always stayed in shape for much of his childhood, he did not find the lengthy runs to be challenging and would often draw the ire of his guards for taking a lot of punishment and not breaking even one time over the two years of imprisonment.

His determination over the years spent behind bars and leading up to right now cannot be measured by man made objects, philosophies or ideals. In short, the determination of Mister Dalton cannot be explained without measuring the strength of the individual as a whole. Not once during his incarceration did the Twinleaf native waiver by not thinking about Dawn. If he did, then he would not be as fanatic in his desire to get his revenge. This desire within causes him to run quicker, think better and be more of a commodity within Avenue Five, even if the company is not really on his mind at the moment.

For now, though, he will have to look forward as the directions leading to this building with the sign 'Checks and Cash' emblazoned on the front in large, white letters is now in sight. He no longer feels the need to run as he is within the confines of the strip mall. As he gets to the other buildings within the premises he walks; almost strolling past the small convenience store, post office, pokemon gift shop, Italian restaurant and finally the spot labeled 'Checks and Cash'.

He does not immediately grab the door open to go inside. He may be determined, but he is not that much of a fool to rush into this situation without first considering everything that has led up to this point and after that period of ten seconds, he goes inside to find a few empty chairs off to the side of a wall and one adult male at a front desk on one phone while typing something into his computer.

Seeing no line or any sort of indication of a line in the small building, Kenny makes his way to the front and waits for the guy on the phone to get off so he can see about Sam very soon. After a minute, this gentleman does hang up the receiver and asks the operative, "How may I help you?"

"Yeah, I called earlier," Kenny explains. "Kenny Dalton is my name and I got sent here and told to meet with a…Slim Sam. Is that right?"

Nodding, this unnamed deskman says, "You'll need to go upstairs to see Sam." Handing him a key, he also hands him some more information letting him know, "Sam isn't here just yet but if you head upstairs and go to the second room on your right I promise that it'll only be just a second. From there, Sam will help you with everything you need. Good luck, Dalton!"

"Thank you and take care," he replies as the receptionist points him to a door off to Kenny's left. Walking over in that direction, he opens the door and walks up the stairs; about fifteen wooden ones in all. Completing the stairs in no time, he goes through the next entrance and remembers that he is looking for the second room to his right.

It takes no time to find the door and Kenny quickly opens it with the given key anticipating whatever he might find inside…with the exception of what he actually found in the room. With the colors of pink pastels, posters of teen pop sensations like Miley Cyrus, The Cheetah Girls and The Jonas Brothers, a mountain of stuffed animals, a red lava lamp and several other amenities which make up the bedroom of a preteen girl, Kenny comes across a legitimate head scratcher.

"This can't be the place, can it?" Kenny asks out loud. "I mean, this looks like a little girl's version of heaven! The only thing that would make it better is if the real things were here."

"Well no need to look any further, ignorant bitch," says a high-pitched voiced which sounds like it is attempting to be deeper than it truly is. Turning around, Kenny finds a young girl no more than four feet, nine inches tall. Her hair is dirty blonde in color and she is wearing light blue jeans patterned with butterflies on the sides. She also wears a brown belt around her waist and a red short tank top with a white shadow design of the pokemon Chimchar on the front. To top everything off, she wears as an accessory, a brown beret on top of her head. "It's me, the real fucking thing."

"Wow, you look like 75 pounds soaking wet," Kenny admits in the face of her foul mouth.

"And you look like someone's fucking creation with that blond hair and green eyes. Your point being?"

"How old are you? You curse like a twenty-five year old sailor at sea!"

Putting up both of her middle fingers directly in the face of the older male, this saucy girl replies, "Eleven years old, smart ass, and what the fuck does my cursing have to do with anything?"

"Nothing except the fact that you are really rude and disrespectful. Now if you will excuse me, I need to leave this…teeny-bopper's palace and find this guy named Slim Sam. I have really important business to tend to and I'm not talking about…little kids stuff, you know?"

As Kenny makes his way out of the room, the girl answers, "Yeah, I know. You're here to see Slim Sam, right? You were told to go upstairs and go inside the second room to your right, or am I way off fucking base here?"

'I hate to believe it,' Kenny thinks as he turns back around to face the preteen girl with a growing level of hesitance. "This is…crazier than a school of catfish," he admits, "but…you? You're Slim Sam?"

"Well, that's my nickname around the Avenue Five offices in Rustboro," she explains to the dumbfounded operative. Putting her hand out in a greeting, she introduces herself as "My name is Samantha Paige Flynn, but I go by the nickname of Slim Sam to Daddy Boroughs and all the other operatives I report to every week."

While shaking the hand of this young girl, some questions arise in Kenny's mind. "Wait, you work in organized crime and you're not even a teenager?"

"Well, technically speaking, I'm not an employee of Avenue Five due to the fact that that would violate the bullshit child labor laws in place," she clarifies. "I'm an independent contractor but by the time I reach the age of fourteen, I will get employee benefits just like my mom and dad and reap the benefits of all that I do here."

"Okay—your mom and dad are part of Avenue Five as well?" he asks. The story just becomes more and more convoluted the more that Sam opens her mouth. Then, something else comes to mind for Kenny. "That guy at the front desk…"

"He's my dad," Sam confirms. "He and my mom set up this spot just outside of the Avenue Five offices where we cash the checks of employees and independent contractors like me. Dad handles most of that department and does it out of house so he can personally teach me everything without me being knee deep in the trenches. The fact is I learn all that I need to know right here. Different operations that would normally happen inside the main offices can be taken out and left for different people to manage and pass over to worthy apprentices. That's what happened with dad. He was so skilled with issues like money and payroll that he organized separate areas all across the regions for people to get their pay, whether it was online, direct deposit or an office like this one.

"Dad has taught me and my siblings everything we need to know about the business including one of the first jobs he ever had in Avenue Five; the creation and falsification of legal documentation including, but not limited to, identification. And that is the reason why you are here right now? Am I right, Kenny, or…am I off base again?"

In the many years he has served in some capacity as a member of Avenue Five in their sales section, he has not heard of any department within the organization hiring individuals under the age of twelve. It is just not something he considered would be a form of standard practice in the company, but here is this semi-whiz kid of sorts working with the company in an important section of logistics and travel in what is, by all accounts, the family business.

Everything just seems so odd from top to bottom. Since he came into the room, a slew of questions have come to mind since the start. While most of them have been answered by Sam in these last few minutes others stand out, but Kenny is not sure if he even wants to push the inquiries any further. "Yeah, I—I heard that you guys would get fake IDs for the team members if they come here."

"Well, here I am. At your service," she declares. "I'll have you know, though, that said services are not cheap but when I get your ID ready you won't be able to tell it from the real deal. That's my guarantee. Now, to get an idea of what your bill will be, what forms of ID are we working with today?"

"Um, well," he begins, "I have a Pokédex, a passport and a second photo ID issued by the Sinnoh region."

"So were talking about the standard three forms of identification? Right then," Sam says. "That will cost you 100 dollars in all."

Raising his eyebrows for a bit, Kenny did not think that this service would cost any money given the fact that Sam is associated with Avenue Five.

"Is there a problem, Kenny?"

"Well…I just thought that services like this didn't cost anything for…people in the company."

"Unfortunately, I have to charge. Like I said, I'm not an employee of The Five so I need to get the money however I possibly can to pay for these services. Believe when I say they are not cheap. Fortunately, if you can't pay for it all right now, I can arrange a payment plan of sorts."

"No, I can pay it all!" Kenny answers. "I was just shocked. I didn't think it would be that much." Pulling out one of the notes from his pants, he says "Here you go."

Taking the bill from the ex-coordinator, Sam asks him, "Now doesn't this make all the sense in the world? Give and get; that's what makes this world go round."

"Can we lay off the scruples and get this identification ready already?"

"No problem." Now putting her hand out in front of the older teen, she asks, "May I have all of the stuff so I can get to work?"

"Oh, sure!" he answers, handing over the passport, Sinnoh issued ID and finally, the Pokédex.

"Thank you. Now if you'll follow me to the closet, we need to talk about something that is of the utmost importance. You know that your name is Kenneth Oliver Dalton but you cannot let anyone else know that or your cover is blown, which is something you can't let happen no matter what. So we're gonna have to come up with a new name for you…and quickly. I wanna hear your suggestions for a first name."

Knowing that he would likely not use his first name for this blank identification, Kenny thought of a name before even coming to 'Checks and Cash' and also thought of a few others as he knew he would be going to get false IDs. "Is the name…Daniel all right or is that too common?"

"Nothing is too common, to be honest with you, when you're picking a name for yourself," Sam answers. "I just caution people who come here for services to not pick anything too…exotic in nature because they will have to present this information to the public as some point or another. So Daniel is fine and given that I have no problem with that, I hope that you don't have any problem with the middle name of Christopher. I suggest the middle name because nine times out of ten, people won't be using it and it is a lot of fun to name things. Now…what do you think of a last name to round this entire thing out?"

'Daniel Christopher,' he ponders, 'that sounds like a name that won't stand out…and more importantly, won't link me to Kenny Dalton in any way.' In his thoughts, it is important for him to separate himself from his actual identity until show time once he gets back in touch with Johanna.

"Hey, buddy. Do you have a touch of autism or some shit?" Sam questions while slapping Kenny on the side of his torso. "What is your new last name?"

"I'll take the last name of Morgan," he quickly responds. "My name from this point forward will be Daniel Christopher Morgan."

"Very good," Sam compliments, "But we're far from done. Give me your date of birth, Daniel."

"Well, February 23, 1996. I mean, you had my name. I don't see…"

Rolling her eyes for a second, she exclaims, "No, dumbass. Not _Kenny's _date of birth, but…_Daniel's _date of birth. Do you follow me or do I have to spell it out for you now?"

"Oh!" he says, remembering that his main goal is to separate himself as much as he can from Kenny. Thinking of something really quickly, he decides to make the process as simple as he can by picking something random. "Okay, my date of birth is…November 14, 1995."

"Say that again."

"November 14, 1995."

"One more time with feeling!" Sam begs of Kenny. "You have to sound convincing or everyone will see right through you. You have to live the character in order to be the character!"

"My name is Daniel Christopher Morgan and I was born on November 14, 1995!" he says, almost screaming these statements. "Is that convincing enough for you, Sam?"

Mulling over this, Sam has to admit that Kenny sounds very confident and convinced that he is his new identity. "Okay, you pass with semi-flying colors. We won't really get into height and weight because you look like you are average size and shape, so I really won't consider that when I make this ID for you. But there is one more thing I'm concerned about. If you went out and told people that you are from Twinleaf Town it might tip people off to your actual identity. So…Daniel, where do you live when you aren't in Avenue Five?"

"Wait a minute, time out," Kenny interjects. "You know…all of this stuff about me? How?"

"Yeah, I got a briefing of that stuff when the offices called me on my cell phone before I came here," Sam explains. "I always like to have it before I meet with clients. They come into this…teeny-bopper's palace, as you put it, and a part of my job is to see if they are intimidated or flustered by things that they don't expect. If you are one that likes to expect the unexpected or if you don't walk out right away and judge this book by its very flashy cover, then you should do a very good job after you leave to wherever you need to go. So with that, aside from Twinleaf Town, where are you from Daniel?"

Understanding the entire setup now, it seems like Slim Sam has opened up to Kenny fully. Hopefully, this means that things will go smoothly for him; all he has to do from this point forward, unless otherwise noted, is to give Samantha the name of a Sinnoh city outside of his own. "I'm from Hearthome City."

"Excellent," Sam remarks. "Now come on inside this closet and we'll take pictures for all of this stuff."

Leading Kenny inside of her office, so to speak, he finds that he is sitting inside of a small, makeshift digital photography shop with multiple computers, cameras and backdrops all around the room. "If you could stand right over there by that blue background, I'll get your pictures taken."

"Does all of this stuff come from the company?"

"Well…sort of. I bought most of this with my money. A lot of this equipment just pays for itself after a while, Daniel. Whenever I need an upgrade in equipment or a securities upgrade, 'The Five' comes over and gives it to me. Now, with that said, let's get these photos done." Walking over to the blue background, Kenny stands at the center of an upright camera. He views the camera's eye directly into its eye and awaits further directions.

"All right, Daniel, I'm gonna adjust this a bit," Sam says as she tends to the camera and raises it to Kenny's natural eye level. "We'll do three pictures and each of them will go onto your different forms of ID. We'll make each of them different so that no one will think that they aren't real. Okay, let's get one of you smiling…but not showing your teeth. Got it?" After a thumbs up from Kenny, Sam puts her thumb on the shutter and counts, "One, two, three," before a flash of light comes out of the camera; the signal that the picture has been taken.

This same routine is repeated two additional times. One picture is done with Kenny smiling while showing teeth and the final picture shows Kenny with a more neutral look where he does not appear to be smiling but at the same time, does not give off a mean demeanor either. With all three pictures taken, Sam asks Kenny to come with her to the computer so they can look over the photos one more time.

"All right," Sam begins, "we'll leave most of this up to you now, operative. As you can see, I have your Pokédex connected to the PC via a USB cable. This will allow us to put in the information with some of my software and add whichever photo you want to put here. The other two photos will go into the Sinnoh region ID card and your passport. So it is your choice of the smiling photo, the smiling photo with teeth or the stern photo. Which one do you want?"

"Uh," Kenny wonders. "Maybe I'll go with the smiling photo with the teeth for that one. I mean, the only people that will likely see the photo are officers in the region. They'll see it and they will see my smiling face and it might change their opinion of me…in a good way. So I'll go with the tooth photo for my Pokédex, the one…where I don't show my teeth, I want in my Sinnoh region ID and my…serious photo should go into the passport."

"Are you certain about all of those?"

"Yeah—yeah, I am."

"Okay, then," Sam replies. "Wait a few minutes outside of the studio while I get all of this information into the system and place all of these photos. I'll come to you and then step three should be finished, am I right?"

"Well…yeah! You know about the secret identity guide, too?"

"Brother, I helped write that damn thing! Look, you could ask me anything about travel and getting arraignments down pat and I probably know the answer. Now, if you would kindly leave my office for now, I'll get to work and get you the heck out of here, Daniel. Sound good?"

"It sounds great! I'll be outside," and with that, Kenny leaves Sam to her work and sits down on the bed. Not really enamored with the many pictures and posters in the bed, which are a self-described ode to girlhood, he shuts his eyes and slowly falls back into the twin-sized bed drifting off into a state of semi consciousness.

While in this quasi-dreamland, the complex plan in his head gets its fair shake in a complete overview. Now halfway home as it seems, he can take the time to consider what has led him to this point. After a brief run of success in pokemon coordinating, he met numerous stumbling blocks and had a tremendous fall from grace in less than three years. From there, he sought shortcuts and quick fixes to get himself back into full form in his trade and established great connections with dealers of steroids, which made his Pokémon more powerful than his peers. With no drug testing for coordinators or Pokémon in place at that time, no one knew of this activity and Kenny went about his career with few knowing of his secret weapons of choice.

From there, his rapid rise to success was documented by the people who made it possible. They, a group of individuals called Avenue Five, requested some sort of payback for all of the services they provided for Kenny. As a part of his payback to the organization, he sold products for Avenue Five and found a new way to make money for himself that he would never be able to duplicate while just coordinating. After a while he earned the trust of a young childhood friend named Dawn Berlitz, who enjoyed much of the product in leisure time. Kenny can vividly remember how she especially enjoyed recreational drugs, including cannabis in large quantities.

Though they never did get together as a couple, Kenny and Dawn lived life very fast and very hard with little regrets and did more than most couples ever do. Together, they traveled through the most exotic parts of the Pokémon world to coordinate while Kenny hocked drugs and steroids to the locals and many of the travelers. At his peak, he made over two hundred thousand dollars every month, stayed at the most expensive hotels, ate at only the best restaurants, wore the latest in fashions and was the poster child for success on the coordinating field, as well.

All of that came to a screeching halt; however, as one night before a large sale, Kenny got busted. To this very day, he is not sure how things went so wrong in such a flash. The person who made the phone call or tipped the police off to his room is part of witness protection and not a word was spoken of the individual during the trial or any other proceedings leading up to his eventual conviction on drug possession charges. His number one accomplice during this time bailed on him and cowardly pointed the finger in his direction. She was never charged with a crime and with a performance worthy of the Academy Awards testified to a grand jury prior to the actual trial that she had no idea that Kenny dealt drugs.

The rest, as they say, is history. The grand jury bought Dawn's testimony and so did the jury and each appeals court he could enter. Running out of money, time and resources, he found himself boxed out of any opportunity to prove that Dawn lied about her role in his dealing and had no choice but to do his time of just over two years inside a youth corrections facility. Losing his freedom was not fun. Aside from the inability to decide his fate or how he would dictate his life, he had to often serve as a subordinate to the much older and stronger teens in the facility. He did things that he does not take pride in, but only did them to earn respect from his peers and keep them from bothering him in whatever time he had alone to think over his plan and its details.

Now out and ready to put his plan to action, Kenny can now be considered a battle tested person whose trials by fire have helped to shape him into the person he is at the moment. He is a person who is just waiting for the moment to come. A person who does not have to wait that much longer to get what he wants.

"Hey, Daniel!" Sam calls as she comes out of her closet office to see Kenny asleep and then suddenly wake up. This action warrants a chuckle from the preteen, not because of the suddenness of the awakening but for the line of drool that comes from the corner of his mouth.

"I'm sorry for sleeping on your bed like that."

"Eh, don't worry about it, Daniel," Sam assures. As Kenny gets up from her bed, she continues, "To be honest, I had the wrong idea about you when you came through here. Here I am thinking that you were just like all the other guys that come through here looking for fake IDs thinking that a girl my age can't possibly help them with what they need. But…even though I'm sure a part of you wanted to turn the other way when you saw me, you didn't."

"Well, yeah!" Kenny answers. "When I realized that you were the real thing, why the hell would I turn away? I haven't come this far to give it up because you don't look the way I think you should. That's silly. Just like everyone at the offices has a job to do, so do you. I guess…I'm rambling right now."

"Then I should probably just give you these and send you back on your way." As Sam reaches out her hand to give Kenny his newly made identification, she remembers something else she has to cover before he leaves. "Oh, shit! There is something you should square away before you leave. You know that, right? Have you read step four in the guide?"

"Uh…no. I haven't. Should I?"

"This step is over, right Daniel?"

"Good point," he concedes as he takes out the pamphlet that started this long strange trip which should lead him to Twinleaf Town. The paper is folded several times, so he unfolds it to find the step after number three. "Step number four: Travel. Congratulations, you've done so much denial you could claim the river in Africa as your own. No one knows who you are because who you are and what you are is not the same. Finally, you have the proof that you are the person you claim to be. You are now set to take on that big world under your new identity. Arrange travel out of the city you're in right now by bus, cab, train, tram or plane, whichever best suits you. Once you do that and go to the city that is your ultimate destination, you may then turn to step number five."

"What city are you going to on this…journey or mission that you are in right now?"

"Twinleaf Town."

"That rinky-dink place?"

"Hey!" he says in defense of his hometown. "Just like I've told everyone else, it's my home. And yes, I'm going there."

"Well, I won't intentionally bash anyone's home. I just wonder how you're gonna get there. I have a list of numerous cab companies that will take you to a bus station or the airport if you want. I doubt they would allow you to take a taxi so far a distance, so…I don't know but if it were me, I wouldn't take a plane ride there. Twinleaf Town is far, you know? But the problem with taking on missions while traveling in planes is risky. You could run into one of those hard-asses at the airport that can spot even the slightest flaws in any of your documents and are not ashamed to point them out to everyone else in their terminal. You don't need that drama, man. I've heard enough stories of our guys and girls getting arrested for fake IDs at the airport. Not a pretty sight to see."

"So if I shouldn't take a plane there," Kenny wonders, "what do I take?"

"The bus. They won't hound you for a passport and they only check IDs to make sure that you have one that looks like you. Plus you're paying for this in cash, right?"

"Yeah. That's right."

"Then I'd go for the bus all the way," Sam explains. "It costs a lot less and it behooves you to have a lot of money on you at any given time so you can prepare yourself for step five. Now, Daniel, I know that the guide says that you have to read step five _after_ you go to Twinleaf Town, but I think that it's important for you to know and understand what you need to do if you are going to be successful out on the road."

Taking the advice of Sam, Kenny turns the page to the final step in the process of keeping his identity a secret. Reading silently, he quickly understands that he has no choice but to take a bus because the airports will not joke around as it pertains to step number five. It makes a great deal of sense, though. He would not be able to get far if he did not follow this particular rule of the trade.

"Okay, Sam. You've convinced me. I'm taking the bus. Can…can I get a cab to the station?"

"Here," she says while reaching into her pocket. "You can use mine. There is a list of about five companies in the speed dial contact list that will get you to the station so you can do your business back home."

* * *

"You know, Max…you are not an idiot," Norman says. "You are a very smart individual. Aside from being quite book smart; you know how to run the gym like you know the back of your hand. Am I right?"

"Yes, sir. You're right."

"Then how the hell do you explain yourself, Max? You knew the consequences of pre-marital, unprotected sex yet you did it. At what point does it hit you and you realize that there are risks involved? You're not stupid…you've just done something very stupid, do you understand? I know there is a brain in there. It should have been telling you what your parents would think of your asinine actions getting not a girl, but a woman pregnant! This isn't the Max Maple I know! This isn't the son that I raised! I taught you…better than that!"

"I think the most…damning thing about all of this is the deceit that I'm seeing and hearing from you, son," Caroline laments. "You could have come to us with the situation involving Misty and her problems with alcohol. We would've respected her wishes and not told a single soul. Given all the circumstances, you did a great job caring for her, even if you were thirteen years old. But you understand that you risked a great deal telling no one else about this aside from Misty's sisters. You didn't trust us then and you didn't trust us now. I see it coming together now! Misty had to come here and square everything away with you about your baby on the way!"

"She came because I asked her to come, mom!" Max clarifies. "That was all part of the plan. Not once did I abdicate my responsibility and not once did I say that there might be some sort of mistake. I _made_ a mistake, yes, but I plan on paying for my mistake."

"Oh, you're a child!" Norman scoffs. "What do you know, Max? Seriously, what do you know about raising a child? Paying for your mistake? You're damn right you're gonna pay for your mistake! You're gonna pay with your life because you no longer matter! Do you have any idea in that allegedly intelligent mind of yours how difficult a job that is? Let me give you a dose of your reality for what your life will be like for the next several years. Imagine a job where you get no breaks, lunches or vacations. You must tend to the needs of someone younger and smaller than you are. Initially, you won't know what they want because they can't tell you. They will often times not tell you everything that is on their mind and they will be dirty and do things you won't believe, but that is only because he or she knows no better. After a while, he or she will start talking and you'll wish that you could shut them up permanently. They'll get older, more rebellious and _think_…that they can make it on their own.

"Then, when they finally are able to make it on their own and you think that you can finally rest because the kids are out of the house, you're asked for a bit of money here, a little help there, and you always get asked for advice. In a nutshell, that is motherhood or fatherhood. Everything goes towards your son or daughter meaning that they eat before you eat, even if _you _have to starve."

"Thankfully, given your careers," Caroline interjects, "it likely won't come to that. But Max, you understand that after Johto and the Silver Conference in a few months, your traveling days are over, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And though I didn't think that this plan would happen until later, your name will go into consideration for…the eventual successor of the Petalburg Gym when my contract and extensions with the Hoenn region expire. Do I make myself clear?"

"Uh, Norman? Perhaps it would be best if Max and I could stay together while we raise our child? I still have my duties as Cerulean City gym leader to tend to, child or not, and I think that if he is eventually going to take over duties as gym leader he should get a good start up in Kanto."

"Well, there is a bit of an issue to that," Max responds, "because since I began training a while back, one of the big plans that I discussed with my dad was the possibility of me taking over the gym after some time."

"We have a lot of time to talk about who will run what gym," Norman admits. "One thing that I think we should all get out in the open right now is that if you want to have a child, I don't think it is a good idea to have him or her in a broken home."

"Max mentioned that to me yesterday evening before I came here," Misty assures her boyfriend's father. "I…have a very good feeling that there is no way for me to bypass marrying Max."

"No. Why?"

"Well…a part of me wondered about it, but thought that it wouldn't happen for a few years. Because of the baby and the fact that I think that you make a very good point, I won't argue with it. I will marry your son before I give birth, Norman."

"Good. Now…I do want to discuss the issue about the gym, but the fact that you don't really have anyone…capable of being an effective gym leader at the moment," he says while laughing at the idea of Misty's sisters giving away gym badges to trainers. "That does make me wonder whether or not Cerulean is in good hands if you are going to have your baby, Misty. So I think it is up to you two and you two alone to determine what's best for you given the circumstances. You should do that alone."

"We'll go up to my room and talk about this some more."

"That's the best thing to do, Max," Caroline says. "We'll give you an hour and we'll talk some more, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answers as Max along with his girlfriend, make their way upstairs. Before leaving the rest of the group behind, Max makes his way towards May and whispers in her ear, pleading for her to 'Tell the truth' and then heads for his room to discuss new business with his future wife.

"I don't believe this, Caroline," Norman admits. "He's…maybe the most intelligent person I know. How does this happen? He got a young woman pregnant. Damn it, he knows better than that! I thought he did, at least."

"You don't believe this, Norman? _I_ don't believe this! I wouldn't have expected something like this for at least another decade! I mean, even with May and Drew I don't see something like this happening."

"Uh, with all due respect, Mr. and Mrs. Maple," Drew interjects, "I really don't see myself having children with May now or…in the distant future, either."

"Drew…"

"Drew?" Caroline questions. "What are you talking about? Is there…something wrong between you and May?"

"Well, in not so many words, yes," he answers. "I've…there are a lot of things that May and I have discussed over the past day or so. We've come to a better understanding of our roles in our relationship. I've heard things that have made this decision much easier for me and…it is time for me to move on and go elsewhere. I'm breaking up with May."

"What?" May's parents ask.

"Why? I don't get it! You've had such a strong relationship for several years," Norman recollects. "Drew, I remember when you asked me if you could travel with May and begin a romance. I didn't think much of it but when you said you had nothing but the best of intentions with May, I gave in…especially after you kept asking. The fact that you would not let me go without a 'yes' response gave me a window into your determination to really have a lasting relationship with May. It's gone on for so long! Why are you breaking up now? What went wrong?"

"Is this the reason why the two of you aren't sitting together?" Caroline inquires.

"Yes, and," Drew continues, looking in the direction of his ex-girlfriend, "May can tell you better than I can about…what went _very_ wrong."

"May, what—what is Drew talking about, dear?" asks her mother. "I mean, this sounds so sudden! You…I never suspected that something was wrong between the two of you."

'Neither did I,' Drew thinks.

"Drew said something went very wrong, May. But…what? What was it?"

To May, who in this split second has switched roles from the fly on the wall to the witness on the judge's stand, there is nothing that could prepare her for effectively breaking the heart of her mother and her father with this news. They thought that only one of their siblings had issues that suddenly overflowed into their personal lives like a tropical storm surge, but if all goes according to Drew's wishes a new affair will come out in the open for them to see and, for all intents and purposes, judge.

She knows exactly how her parents feel about the matter of homosexuality. They do not approve of such an act, which May is guilty of doing hundreds of times. They fail to see the love involved with two people of the same sex and instead pass off the attraction as nothing more than unbridled, hedonistic lust. They think that all same-sex love ruins relationships, although in this case that is the sad truth of what really happened.

And Norman and Caroline believe that such unions have the ability to ruin family units.

"Honey?" Caroline calls. "Please talk to us. I know we have not always been supportive of you and Drew being together. Our biggest concern has been you, your health and well being. I just want to know what happened with Drew. He's saying that you've broken up! That is true, right?"

"Yes it is, mom."

"Why is that?"

"Dad? Daddy," May pleads, "please understand me when I say…that I'm your daughter and everything that happened which led to this point…was my decision. I was wrong for doing what I did. I could lose everything because of a stupid choice I made. The reason Drew is breaking up with me is because…" and it hangs. From there, a situation arises and May almost has to remind herself to perform unconscious activities such as breathing in air or blinking her eyes.

Is she forgetting something? Aside from the fact that she is about to become the true bearer of bad news to her parents and let them know that she is not the pure, chaste, girl next door they thought they cared for from birth? It is not as if she is forgetting that she probably has more experience in the field of sexual relations than the two of them put together. Is there anything else that she has to make absolutely clear before she turns on the light and reveals the true May Maple?

She does not want to see the shock, awe or disgust that might permeate onto her parent's faces in a few seconds time, so instead of putting her head down, she looks off to her side and finds Drew calmly sitting down on a couch off to the side until he notices May looking at him. Wanting to make sure that she does not shrink in the face of this difficult step in her life, he warns her by mouthing the words, 'If you don't tell, I will'.

"May? Answer us, please! Girl, I am your mother! If you can't come to me or your father with your problems, where in the world are you gonna go?"

"Mom, I've done several terrible, horrible things!" she contends. "Drew and I are not together because…I cheated on him!"

"What?" her parents exclaim.

"Cheated?" Norman questions. "May, what…are you kidding me?" Pointing in the direction of the male coordinator, he commands her to, "Look at Drew! He's a good kid! He does the right things; he knows how to treat a young woman. It's hard to find _one_ of these qualities in today's guys and you want to throw that away for some fling? You know what? Let's not even consider Drew right now. May, you know better than that! If you love Drew, then you do not cheat on him. It's that simple. God, Caroline! What the hell is wrong with our children? One has hid his girlfriend for three years until he gets her pregnant and the other one is carrying on an affair with another guy!"

"Why, May? After all the fighting you did with us to get with Drew all those years ago, you cheat on him?" Caroline asks.

With her head down, she makes the honest statement that, "I don't love Drew anymore. I did at one time. Back then I really did, but that's changed. The person I've been with…is the one that I really love."

"You know, you could have avoided all of this heartache, May," her ex-boyfriend says. "I…will not shed another tear for you, even though you have taken my heart and put it through a shredder. Don't you get it? You've broken my heart! I don't know if I can put it back together again. You could have broken up with me, gone to your true love and none of this would have happened! Hell, your parents might have even accepted the son of a bitch! Who knows? But you did all of this behind the backs of the people you love. _Now_ how do you think they will take the news of your 'true love'?"

"The same, Drew! The exact same!" she responds. "Nothing has changed in the past couple of days and the reaction they would have to this person would have been horrible. They won't accept…you know."

"What I do know is that I considered this individual a friend," Drew adds, being sure to keep the true identity of Kelly a secret so that May will eventually have no choice but to reveal her by name. "Mr. and Ms. Maple, you've had this person over as a friend of May's. You consider this person to be a great individual. I…thankfully never became intimate with May, but I have a sneaky feeling that you, May, have not only slept with this person, you did it in this house."

"May, is that true? Is it true that you've slept with this…sorry excuse of a boy in _our _house?"

The thing that is on her mind more than any other item of note is how Drew was able to successfully determine that she has, in fact, slept with Kelly in her parent's house. She never said anything except that she cheated with Kelly on several hundred occasions. To add on top of this sad state of affairs, the conflicted girl cannot count the number of sexual encounters she has had in their bedroom or even in the different sections of the house. The question is the equivalent of a puzzler and distracts her from the question her father just posed to her until she realizes that she never gave Norman an answer. "Yes, I have, but…"

"My God! My God, what…May…" Norman cannot really find the words. He never thought he would need them, though, so who can blame the now heartbroken father as he starts to tear up hearing all of these new and sordid details about his only girl. "What in the world happened to you?" he asks, getting up from his seat on the couch. In his desire to get a better look at his daughter and wonder if there is something inside that needs to be pulled out, he goes down to his knees and looks at the young woman at eye level.

'She certainly has changed from the time I let her go on her journey,' he ponders. No science is necessary to see that this is truly the case. For instance, he can always remember having to look down at May but if he stands side to side with her, she will be the one that will look down at him. That is, of course, only part of the story as Norman takes a look at the very muscular build of his soon to be twenty-year-old progeny. While bodybuilding was never something he imagined his daughter would ever get involved with, it happened and in a very short time, she became a top performer in her class giving her the nobility of being a great two sport star.

As always, he has been supportive, shown her daughter the love she needs and given her the care that is necessary. He thought that he prepared his son and daughter well, but their problems do not speak well to the job of neither Norman nor Caroline. While they are becoming their own adults, their decisions do not speak well of the title that comes with adult behavior or the ones who reared them to the point where they are now.

Reaching out, Norman hopes for a simple touch and he gets it by caressing the right cheek of his daughter. What he would like nothing more than to do is get some answers and find out what is causing her to do such bad things like cheat with her ex. "Hey, I love you. You know that, right?"

'Will you love me after this, dad?' she silently questions. '_Can _you love me after everything I've done?' Worrying about the future might have a bad effect on May's present, so she decides to just answer her father. "Yes, I know you love me. But I've done some horrible things, dad, which I know neither you nor mom will approve of."

"Why did you cheat on Drew, May?"

"I stopped trusting him. That's…the one thing that stands out the most."

"What made you stop trusting Drew?" Caroline asks.

"We've…had difficulties with our roles as boyfriend and girlfriend. That's the best way I can describe it. We actually broke up and gotten back together twice over the course of eight years and…"

"You did what?"

"I did it out of ego!" she quickly exclaims. "You two didn't approve of me being with Drew at age…12 or 13. If I had told you that we broke it off, then you would have rubbed it in my face and said that we weren't mature enough to handle that kind of relationship. I didn't need that, with all due respect. I knew that I was taking a risk! In retrospect, if I knew then what I know now, I would have never dragged Drew back into my life. I would have taken another risk. There is something that…I really need to be honest about to you two."

"What is it?" Norman asks, still on his knees.

'Now or never,' May thinks as the thought of letting her parents know what she truly is begin to take their toll on the coordinator. The emotion is what has led teens facing similar situations to actions such as violent behavior, suicide and feelings of depression, including hopelessness. She cries, but would anyone expect anything else from her at this moment? Looking over towards Drew, she does not see any softening of his face or concern for her at that moment in time.

Never before has she felt so alone even though so many people who love and have loved her are so close to her at the moment. Max is upstairs and has to tend to his own problems, so she has to bear the brunt of this burden for however long her folks will hold it to her.

There are only two or three words that she has to say to make her point, but they do not come out for fear of what might happen. "I'm…" she begins. "I'm gay. I'm gay."

Preparing for what goes on from here, May tries her best to not act surprised as her father lets her go and stands up from his previous position. "What did you say?"

"I said that I have no romantic interest or attraction towards the opposite sex, dad. I am a lesbian. My mistress for the past seven years has been Kelly Mordetsky. Not a boy, but the girl we need more of in this world according to you."

Part of Norman does not want to look at the girl before him. This is his daughter and she's saying all of these things to him? It makes no sense whatsoever. It came out of nowhere and hit him with all the subtlety of a bolt of lightning. The news struck him just the same and caused his wife Caroline to hold her head down, as well. "I don't…May. What the—how did this happen? Where did I go wrong with you and your brother? He's got a woman pregnant and you say these perverted things? Where did I go wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, dad," May assures him while still on the couch. "It's not as bad as it sounds."

"What are you talking about? It's not as bad—you don't see how wrong this is, May?" Caroline asks while still hanging her head. "You don't see that…this is ruining families all over the world because of perverted thoughts just like the ones you are having right now? For _Kelly_, of all people?"

"All right, enough!" May exclaims, standing up from her seat on the couch. "I am…so sick of the bullshit lies of the…fundamentalists and traditionalists out there. I've had enough! There is nothing wrong with people who love the same sex! There is nothing mentally wrong with them or physically wrong with them and not all of them have been raped by someone to steer them away from 'traditional' love and not all of them are perverts! Okay? This is how I feel!"

"Don't use that language in that house and don't yell!" Norman interjects. "In any event, how you feel is conflicting with the way we live life! How you feel is rocking what we know to be the way things have been from the very beginning! You're trying to force this on us, and I'm here to say this; it won't work!"

"I'm not trying to force anyone to do anything, dad! I don't want you to treat me any differently, that's all!"

"Well, you have a hard road ahead of you! How can I look at you the same when you tell me this? How in the world can you expect me to look at you the same way when you say that you are a fornicator and you make sex into this…obscene show? You ask me to look at you the same? You and your kind make me sick!"

"My kind?" she asks, bewildered. "Dad…"

"Don't 'dad' me! Not when you've…given up on the fact that there might be that special someone out there for you!"

"Yeah, and her name is Kelly!"

"Oh, for the love of…what about children? If everyone did what you did, May, how can humans continue on in this world?"

"Not everyone is doing it but then again, not everyone is like me! Not everyone has these feelings going through them! I just wish that people would accept it and move on! Is who I love really that relevant…to _you_, dad?"

This comment and question posed to Norman causes Caroline to pick her head up and look at her daughter once more. It is interesting that a comment about feelings caused her to think quite a bit. Maybe there is substance in May's words, but much of that does not get to settle in her mind before Norman pleads his case.

"Oh, stop it! Just quit while you're ahead!" Norman scoffs. "You don't have a leg to stand on except for feelings. Feelings, May? You want me to accept you for your feelings? Forgive me if I think your feelings are selfish, sick and wrong! You want me to consider your feelings? Fuck you! You're an embarrassment to this family!"

"Norman…" Caroline softly replies.

"What," he asks, turning around to face his significant other?

"I know you are upset, Norman," she begins. "I am upset. I hear my daughter come to me and say that she is gay. I don't want to believe it. I don't want to call her a lesbian and I don't want to think of her like this. I am just like you in thinking that it is very wrong. But no matter what, that's my girl," she says, pointing to May. "That is my heart and my blood right there. She might do things that I don't agree with like this, but I still love her no matter _what _she does or has done. I was taught that this behavior was deviant and representative of what not to do. I didn't think…that that was part of the old culture and the law of the land. I just thought of my great childhood and didn't consider much else. But back then, you didn't hear of homosexuality. A girl talking about other girls in that way was not accepted and if you were thought to do this, you either got sent to jail or you went to an insane asylum.

"Now I look at May right now, Norman, and the last thing I think is that she is or could be insane. She's got me thinking about the wrongs that my parents and that…close-minded society as a whole placed on its people. Maybe she would've reached out if we did not…unknowingly shut her out, but you're more adept at pointing her out and saying how bad she is right after you hear what she said about her sexuality. You're talking about her being an embarrassment to the family, Norman?" And then screaming out her frustrations, she points her finger to the stairs and loudly asks her husband, "What do you call our son upstairs? Is he just pressing the fast forward button and doing what comes naturally? I didn't hear you call him an embarrassment, when it's clear he and May are equal in terms of their shame and their wrongdoings."

"Caroline…"

"I'm not done, Norman! Let me finish! Now, there is one more thing that I need to find out about. This whole double standard nonsense is really pissing me off. By the time you ended the conversation we just had with Misty and Max, you were joking around and laughing about how Daisy, Violet and Lily could not…hold the responsibilities of gym leading like Max could. You just thought it was so funny and so interesting that her sisters can only be entertainers to pull the weight for Cerulean and not the gym leading and training that their family has strived for over many years. I don't see a damn thing funny about it and I don't see any reason why you think you should make light of this! This is serious stuff, and I also don't get why you can make light of my son's troubles but want to put a scarlet letter on our daughter! What's your problem?"

"Are you done?" he tentatively asks. "It's very noble of you to stick up to her like this, but you're not thinking right now. This type of relationship is not legitimate and you know this. I don't know how she's done it, but it seems that your daughter has converted you…"

"What the—stop! Enough! Just stop it! You're not all that, Norman! You really aren't!" Caroline exclaims. "We all have dirt! If it's not one thing, then it's another!" Stopping to compose herself, Caroline fails. The tears start to come out of her eyes and the emotion that Drew, her husband and daughter see cause them to take a mental step back and just wait for the words of the lady of the house to come to the surface. It is clear that at this very moment, she is not a happy individual for whatever reason meaning that no one else should be in an upbeat mood either.

"You know what? I don't care what you think, Norman. I'm not going to abandon my daughter because of this. The fact that you are treating your kids differently in the midst of both of their struggles…makes me sick. Sick! May's cheating…I don't like it. The fact that Max and Misty are having a child…I don't like that, but I cannot stand this special treatment that you're giving my son over my daughter! I really don't care anymore about whether my son will have a baby or that my daughter will bring home girls. I'm supporting my kids not for _what _they are, but…_who_ they are."

Walking closer to Norman, she further explains, "And who they are, Norman, is a part of us. You dare call your own creation an embarrassment? If that's the case, then please do not come crying to me if she comes back to either prove you wrong or knock your head off its fucking block!"

"Caroline," he contends, "do you honestly think that letting her go about doing this is the best thing? Don't you see it? She's given up! She doesn't know! There is a guy out there for her if she wants to look, but she doesn't even want to do that! She thinks that there is…no guy out there that can show her love like some whore apparently can!"

"Dad!"

"Shut up and sit down!" Norman retaliates. "You've said enough! In fact, to be quite frank, I think you've embarrassed this house enough too. You did those terrible things with other girls in _my _house? I shook their hands and I hugged them? You called them your friends? I ought to kick your tail out of here…"

"What about Max?" Caroline and May question.

"Well?" his wife asks. "If you're gonna kick out May, which you will _not _do as long as I am here, then you should do the same to Max. In the real world, he is just as much of an embarrassment as May or should be according to you. Yet Max gets a decision on where he gets to stay to raise his baby. Max gets to joke about his fiancée's incompetent sisters. Max gets all of that yet…oh! May has that disease. She's sick for thinking the things she thinks. Forgive me if I don't…think so and think that Max has done more to screw himself over than May would even allow."

"What are people gonna think of us, Caroline? Our kids…it's not good! Nothing looks good here however you look at it! You think I'm happy that I'm gonna be a grandfather? No! And…I'm scared at what people will say about me when they find out about May. I have a reputation!"

"Oh my God! Listen to yourself, Norman!" his wife screams once more. "Listen to yourself! All I am hearing from you is 'I, I, I,' but you know something? It is not always about 'I'! You have a daughter here scared to _death_ about what her daddy will think about her lifestyle and her affairs. She would like nothing more than for her daddy to hug her and to love her just like a daddy should! But you know what you do? You call her an embarrassment, you say she doesn't know what she's talking about and you call her names and tell her 'fuck you'? That's not a daddy, that's a deadbeat!"

"Now wait just a minute…"

"No, I'm still not done. You've hardly called May by her name since she came out to you! She's your daughter and she's reaching out! She just needs a hug and you know what?" Leaving the question hanging, Caroline walks over to her oldest child and squeezes her tightly saying to May, "I love you. I won't let anything happen to you. Not so long as I am here. I don't like the fact that you cheated on Drew and I still think lesbianism is wrong, but I'm not here to judge you. I'm here to be your mother and love you through thick and thin."

"Thank you," May replies, hugging back just as tightly. While all of this happens, Drew finds it difficult to keep a neutral face throughout this scene. His opinion on May has not changed since heading downstairs about an hour ago. He still dislikes her for all that she has done, but he does feel for Caroline at the moment for standing up to Norman and still loving her daughter in the midst of all her wrongdoing. The bond between a mother and a daughter could not be much stronger than what he is witnessing at the moment. He turns away at times so that they do not see the emotion showing up on his face even though it is highly likely that the tandem could care less about him.

"You love your kids? Fantastic, so do I," Norman remarks. "But our kids…may very well cost us. And besides, you still haven't answered the question of what you're gonna do. You haven't told me what you're gonna say."

Turning around, she makes a single point very clear in her husband's mind. "I don't need to say anything…except that my children come first and not me. That's why I stand beside them, problems or no problems."

"Fine," he concedes. "Just be sure to also tell people that you are one to let the inmates run the asylum and have your children do what they want with little to no oversight. That is how they got in this trouble, right? We weren't there to look over the mess and stop it before it had the chance to turn tragic."

"All right! You know what?" Caroline asks Norman as she gets up and faces the older male. "Both of us, in my mind, have done a great job with our kids. I'll admit that not everyday has been a bed of roses, but that's life, Norman. We've made mistakes, but our children recognize their mistakes and are doing their best to right their wrongs. May and Max's problems…are exactly that; their problems. We didn't hurt them, we were always there for a helping hand or a good word of advice and we allowed them to make mistakes, live and learn. That has no basis on whether we are good parents or not. So if you want to tell people something that badly, speak for yourself and tell them that when the times got their toughest…_you_ became your weakest. May is staying here and we're gonna talk about this and I want to see Kelly and talk to her myself. I'm not gonna turn away from this like you want to do."

Shaking his head for a moment, he concedes to the wishes of his wife feeling that no form of rationale from his side can convince her to go through any other plan or course of action to punish or reprimand their daughter. "Fine," he ultimately says. "You tell if I tell. I'm gonna go and check up on Max and Misty."

"Go ahead," Caroline responds as he watches her husband go up the stairs without a comment or word towards the two younger people in the room.

Having been the real fly on the wall for the majority of the conversation between Max and the mother of his child combined with May and her parents, Drew decides to leave as well. "Okay, since that's about it for this conversation and May has said everything that she really needs to say, I think that I should go home. I'm packing my bags and going. You don't regret us breaking up, do you May?"

"No, I don't. I think this will be best for all of us."

"With all due respect to you, Caroline, and your opinion of your daughter," Drew adds with his voice wavering, "I hate your daughter. May, did you hear me?"

"Yes, Drew."

"I hate you!" Drew reiterates. "I hate you for not having the temerity to come to me about this. I hate that you got back with me when you were no longer a virgin and having sex since the age of fourteen and I hate that you still tried to keep this from the people you allegedly care about. Whatever happens to you from this point forward…I have no desire to be a party to." Putting his hands together in a position like he was washing his hands, he states, "I wash my hands of you, May. You are dead to me for all the shit you've done and for your betrayal over these last seven years, you get whatever you deserve. We're done…and I'm done," and with that, he follows the same path as Norman; up the stairs and to the guest bedroom to do exactly what he said he would; pack up and leave.

Keeping a hold on her daughter with all her might, Caroline meets her face to face. Giving her a kiss on her forehead, she says, "You're gonna be okay, May. We'll get through this. I promise you your father will come around to this."

* * *

A/N: Remember, this story is not over! Keep in mind that there is another chapter that is longer than this immediately following this one! So go to the next one when it comes, why don't you?


	23. Reunion: Worth Saving, Part Two

A Confession Gone Awry

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 23- Reunion Part 6: Worth Saving, Part Two)

* * *

"So you understand where I'm coming from when I talk about my crush on you, Dawn?"

"Yeah," she answers. "I think I do, Corey." Speaking with Zoey's younger brother for the past ten minutes or so has been real good for the two. Using her girlfriend's room as the space for each of them to have their conversation and air out their feelings towards one another, they have both spoken out about how the other one has impacted them in negative and positive ways.

"I…I've heard about you for so long from my sister. Zoey would not stop talking about you and would not say a negative or cross thing about you. The more she said, the more interested I became at developing some sort of relationship with you. Whether it was romantic, platonic or whatever, I just wanted to know you better. Granted, I still knew that Zoey was attracted to the same sex and it never occurred to me that she might have feelings for you. I just kept focusing on you, Dawn.

"It wasn't that long ago, but on the afternoon of the Grand Festival, even though I'm not a big fan of the sport, I wanted to see the final with you. Mom and dad wanted me to get packing for our vacation and reunion, though, so that was…all but out of the question. When I saw you come in, I knew that the television didn't do you justice. You're beautiful, Dawn, inside and out. Out of my own selfishness I sought you for myself, even when I knew the extent of your relationship with my sister. A part of me didn't think you were right for my sister; again, selfishness on my part. Also, I…it is very petty of me to think this because even with Rocky and me trying to stop you from being together, it didn't work.

Stopping for a second to wonder if it is even worth it to restate this again, Corey decides that it's worth bringing it to the table as he has done the same thing with everything else on his mind. "A part of me still thinks that you aren't a lesbian! It's just like I told you when we started our talk; I can't help the way I think. The problem is that how I think can't help me get what I want. In fact, it might cost me more in the end. Family members have turned on me, I've lost my spot in K.C.'s band and…it's just not worth it anymore to keep this up. If Zoey really makes you happy and vice versa, then I'm happy."

'Should I tell him?' she ponders. 'Man, I haven't even gotten the muster to tell Zoey the truth about this…and a lot of other things. I wish I could see her. God, where the hell is she?' Once more, the words of Corey Neale seem to get to Dawn because just like the truth, they hurt very much. He got to say his peace and make some unclear points more sensible. She sees it as only being fair that she do the same thing…or forever hold her peace. "Well, Corey, I am thankful that you think how you do and that you're convinced that our romance is for real. There are a few things that I think you should know, though. This is in all fairness to you, your words and your feelings. You heard about me from Zoey while you knew that she is a lesbian. Don't you think that if she is talking about a girl the way she talked about me to you and the family that she might be interested in me as more than just a friend? I mean, you said she really…made me look great to you and didn't have a bad word to say about me at all."

"No, when I think about it you do make a great deal of sense. I should have seen it, but I got—I never thought that there might be something else there. I mean, Zoey never said anything about potential girlfriends during this time and it didn't occur to me that you might be it."

"Okay, I'll grant you that. If Zoey is not willing to admit something like that, then there might be some…level of doubt in her mind…for whatever reason. She could have thought that I wouldn't bite…but enough about that; that's Zoey's matter and if she ever wants to get into what was going through her head at that time, she'll do it on her own. I want to get to this business about you not thinking that I'm gay even though I _am _with your sister right now." Dawn pauses, but the appropriate word is stops. She has to wonder if she is doing the right thing by letting Corey be the only person, aside from Paul, who knows that his assumptions are correct. The fact is that she has done a lot of lying to a lot of the Neale family members. From the issue of drug abuse to sexual situations and emotions, she has not been an honest individual about much.

One thing that is true is the fact that her feelings for Zoey are legitimate. Even if she does not see herself as bisexual or gay, that bears no weight on her relationship with her girlfriend. If people do not know this, then it would behoove her to be honest so that if the issue ever arises in conversation she will not be left stammering and stumbling on her own words and having to explain a systematic web of lies.

"What about what I said?" Corey questions. "Was there something you wanted to say about it, because even if you say that you aren't gay…?"

"I'm not," she interjects. "You were right, Corey. You were right the entire time when you said what you said. I'm not—I'm not gay, I'm not even bisexual."

"Then why are you with my sister? Any other person or any other scenario that I could name and you'd have a boyfriend and no one would think any different of you and you could keep living life the way you want. Why risk so much?"

"Because I love Zoey!" she replies. "Look, I may not fit the bill anywhere else, but I do know that when I see her I skip a beat inside. So what if I don't have a track record of relationships with other girls. Everyone is different, Corey! I didn't find this out until this stage in my life. Fortunate for me, I wasn't married nor did I have kids and then these feelings started to come out of me and I risked my family in the name of who I loved. I'm happy to know now that I do have this. I'm glad that there is a possibility of a relationship like this happening for me. I'm happy that I've gotten to know Zoey the way I've gotten to know her this past week. Our relationship is…very good."

"You are lying to my sister about this, though."

"Just let me finish, Corey," Dawn interjects. "Yes, she doesn't know that I feel this way, but I will tell her as soon as I see her again. I can't keep this inside anymore. It's not worth it because…well now you know, and someone else out there also knows. I think I should just let the people I care about the most know what is going on in my mind. It's the only right thing to do at this point or I could lose everything. I did think that I made a turn in my feelings when I got to this point and actually became Zoey's girlfriend, but if I'm honest with myself, I know that any other girl I see out on the beach or elsewhere can't pull these feelings out of me the way your sister does." With her voice breaking and her eyes becoming watery, Dawn is going through the motions of the emotions at the moment. "There's just something about her and lying to her about this and a lot of other things…I can't do it anymore! I'm not gonna do it anymore! I'm fucking sick of it! I can't—our relationship won't end up well if I can't do my part and pull my weight and that starts as soon as I see Zoey.

"Now, if I could switch gears for a moment, there is one more thing that I want to find out about. I want to know what in the _world_ you were thinking going into business with Rocky to try and break up Zoey and I. Why?"

"I was selfish and I thought I could have you."

"I know that, but Rocky had to have had some reason behind what she did."

"That's the thing," Corey counters, "she never told me! I tried to find out why she wanted this to happen so badly, but she kept changing the subject and I never got a clear reason why other than she thought that you weren't right for Zoey…and that's _all _that she would tell me."

'Rocky hasn't squealed yet,' Dawn wonders. 'She is serious about her profession, for sure. If she did say something I'll kick her ass again, but she hasn't. She's running out of excuses, though. So…I still have a chance to say all of this to Zoey on my terms.' Then, the door opens to the room and the person on the other side, looking tired and downtrodden, enters to find her girlfriend and brother talking together on the bed.

"What the fuck is going on here, Dawn?"

"Well, Corey told me that you went out earlier to get away from the reunion for a bit," she explains. "I thought it would be a good chance for us to just talk. Corey correctly said that we got off the wrong foot and we've been in here just talking until you came in."

"Has Corey been bothering you at all?"

"No! He told me about the ultimatum you gave him before you left. He's been nothing but a gentleman and I think we could even be good friends after all of this."

"I see," Zoey answers softly. "Okay, I have something to say to Corey if you don't mind, Dawn. Corey, get your ass out of my room…now, and don't you dare try to eavesdrop on this conversation. You've had your time with Dawn, and now it's my turn."

Standing up without any objection, Corey walks away from both girls. As he goes to leave, Zoey give him his final instructions before the youngest of the Neale boys goes to the door, "Tell mom and dad not to wait for me, okay? I…have a feeling I'm gonna be a while." After nodding his head, Corey leaves the room at last having not said a single word to his sister in the process.

Sighing before she sits down next to Dawn, Zoey reaches for a hug, which her girlfriend is more than happy to return. With her voice very raspy due to strain and an added factor of tiredness, Zoey makes it clear to the teen girl next to her with one sentence. "We really need to talk."

"I agree," Dawn answers, swallowing saliva while trying to get a read of Zoey's face. "I think that we've needed a good talk for a while. What do you want to talk about first?"

Where does this conflicted girl begin? There are really so many things that could arise from this question, but Zoey knows that she can get what she wants from her companion if she asks her an inquiry of her own. "Okay, you know that you can come to me for anything, right? If you are honest with me and if you need to come to me to get help with a problem, I can help you."

"Yes, you said that. I remember you saying that and…I told you that I had to be ready in order to do that."

"Look," Zoey interrupts while giving the girl next to her a single pat on the lap. "I understand that we've only been together for one week. I don't expect you to be an open book during this time and let me know of everything that has happened to you in your life during this week. But you have to understand that I feel…very powerless if I see you crying by the walkway leading up to the house and you won't say what's happening with you. I feel like I can't help you if you worry about things I'm not privy to in the least bit. It's almost like you have something that you're…embarrassed to let people know about so you hide it."

"Zoey…"

"I'm not done, Dawn," she warns her. "You know, if there is someone out there who was not a family member that you would open up to and let them know how you feel inside, I'd think that that person would be a girlfriend or even a very close friend. And I completely understand that there are problems that we don't want the people around us to know about. Hell, I didn't want to admit to myself that I am a lesbian when I was…around age twelve or thirteen, but it got to the point where it was pointless to keep fooling myself. I'm sure my peers knew before I did and some family members knew before I did, but didn't tell out of respect for me. In the end, though, opening up wasn't a detriment to me at all. Sure, I face a lot of people that don't agree with who I am and who I love, but for the most part, living out…is probably the best decision I've ever made, aside from asking you to be my girlfriend.

"I never would have gotten to this point in my life if I didn't decide that the secrets I kept from…not the whole world but my favorite people were best to be kept to myself. Had I said nothing during this time, I'm sure I would have been miserable and would have sought some type of release for holding everything in for so long. I probably would have lashed out at people that decided to not care about what people thought and instead sought help or let every burden of mine out in the open. I would've gotten angry at those brave souls who stood up and decided to no longer let their fears control them. But perhaps the most telling thing that happens to people who keep all of their secrets in is that they stress themselves out to the bone worrying about whether their reputations are still intact.

"Why go through all of that, especially when you have someone right here—_right here_ who knows what it is like to hold something in you wanna let out so much, but…feel like you can't? It's not worth it, Dawn. I know you have something you want to let out, but you aren't sure if it's a good idea to tell me. Dawn Berlitz, I am telling you right now; you are not alone. Whatever you want to say to me, say it. I promise you, I won't be mad whatever it is. I could care less about it because it's done. Consider it water under the bridge. Just…I gotta know the truth…from your lips." After this long admission from Zoey, she emphasizes her points with a kiss on her girlfriend's lips. "Just talk to me, please."

Dawn finds it hard to even look Zoey in the face right now. The sincerity that she is showing right now in asking for her honesty above everything else is very class of her and makes her attempts to keep her seedy past a secret look very childish, especially given the fact that she is in a relationship where honesty is, or should be, a first priority. With her head down she gives her girlfriend a fair warning. "I have to warn you; I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud of and would like to forget."

"It's okay. Just…I want to know this and I want to hear these things from you. That's more important than things I can't control. At least if I know this, I can help you with whatever might arise in the future. I also want you to know that…it was very brave of you to confide in me that story about Paul. A lot of girls…won't even acknowledge a guy they dated if they find out that he's gay. You told me everything, though, and I learned about your ability to bounce back from situations that don't go your way or tend to backfire. I like that and I want to see more of it."

"You know, it's interesting that you brought up Paul," she interjects, "because a lot of my…checkered past began right afterI broke up with Paul. I went to the Orange Islands to coordinate and Paul decided to go through Kanto again. I had no problem with it and thought it would be good for us to separate for just a little while. Lo and behold, he breaks up with me at a contest and I run into…Kenny Dalton."

Though Dawn cannot see it, Zoey is really clenching her fist right now. Just hearing the name made her so angry because whatever happened between the two caused her good friend a great deal of misery. If even a mere portion of Rocky's words about the Dawn and Kenny saga are true, then it is sad and does explain why she would be quite hesitant to open up about it to anybody.

"And the natural thing to do after a breakup is…get upset and get angry. You often wonder if you could have done something different and if you did would things have changed. Now, I had no idea that Kenny was coordinating in the Sinnoh region. He said that he would go to Johto to continue his career after a few hiccups by the time he got to his second region…"

"Hoenn, I remember that," Zoey adds. "He came to Hoenn and things seemed to fall apart for him very quickly, but he did get back on course after a while."

"That's right. When I went back to the dressing room, my intention was to withdraw from the contest and forget that that day ever happened. I ran into Kenny on my way to the dressing room. He kept asking me what was wrong and I was just hysterical the entire time. He then said that I might calm down if I just took a deep breath. From there we walked outside and he asked me to just tell my story and I did just that, leaving out the part about me being with Paul. I…still had a feeling that Kenny has feelings for me; feelings which I just don't return even after all this time and certainly not now. He asked me to travel with him and we coordinated throughout the Orange Islands that year—actually, no. It was more like seven to nine months or so.

"But we traveled together with him paying for everything along the way. I never questioned it. I just thought it came from either his folks or doing quite a bit of coordinating or proposition battling because he always had money on him. What I soon learned is that aside from having a lot of money, he had a lot of drugs. One night, I went out for a little walk and Kenny stayed behind at the hotel. When I came back, I caught him…smoking a joint. I asked him why he did it and he told me that it calmed him down and made him feel good. He hocked the weed like a miracle drug that would be the answer to all of my problems and I bought into it. It wasn't even a month since I broke up with Paul and anything that would help me get my mind off of him I considered to be a good thing.

"I took it, knowing that drugs…are not the answer. I didn't become addicted or overdose or anything of the sort at that moment. For maybe two months it was just weed, bongs, bud brownies and some hashish, but they really were gateway drugs for…the heavy stuff that would come. The bottom line is that I was weak. I…should not be afraid to admit that I was weak, but I really zoned out. I didn't see my mother, who could've put a stop to all of this had I had it in me to say something.

"I went from marijuana joints one week to cocaine, speed, prescription drugs, painkillers and even heroin. I was very strung out, but seemed to hold it together during contests for a while. The makeup people for contests can make you look fresh as a daisy. So, for about six months, Kenny and I became drug buddies and…a few times, alcohol came into the equation, as well."

"Oh my God," Zoey whispers. 'I had no idea she was drinking, too! Damn, this is even worse than what Rocky told me! This…I don't believe this! I really don't want to believe it, but she's saying it so it has to be true.' The emotion that comes from hearing the truth about someone she really loves gets the tears rolling down her face.

"Maybe I should stop…"

"No, keep going," she quickly tells Dawn. "Don't worry about me. I can take it, I just…I hate that son of a bitch for what he made you do! He got you hooked onto drugs!"

"I did it to myself, Zoey!" she admits. "If…if I wasn't so prone to take whatever medicine that was being served to me so that I could get over Paul as quick as I could, I—who knows? Who knows what could have happened to me? Who knows if I would have been with you? Something else might have taken place! But I absolutely hit rock bottom during a contest in Mikan Island. You remember what happened and what you asked me on the phone?"

"Yeah. I asked you if you were okay. You said yes and I finished that conversation by saying…I love you. You asked me what that meant, and I said that when you love someone that means you care for them, look out for them and make sure that they are okay. I said that it didn't have to be romantic for it to be love."

"I should have said something right then and there," Dawn says while in tears just like Zoey. "I should have said 'Fuck my reputation, because I'm really hurting something worse than my reputation,' but it never clicked in my mind to reach out. The drugs were there and it wasn't hard to get them, either, so that's what I turned to…and what caused me to pass out during the Mikan Island contest. I made the excuse of exhaustion and everyone bought it."

"But, Dawn, even the doctors said that the reason for your fainting was exhaustion."

"I'm not saying that it didn't play a part," she explains, "I mean, that was a record setting day temperature-wise. It was almost 110 degrees that day. People were affected by the heat even in that well-conditioned contest house, but I shot up that day and…I think that had as much to do with my…fainting or passing out as the weather. Basically, I paid the doctors off to make sure that my secret remained safe."

"Dawn, you…"

"I would go through any lengths to keep my secret safe…Kenny was there and I asked him how I can keep my mother from knowing this and he said that it would be best to pay off the doctors. That was what we did and we always struck down any rumors about anything else going on at the time. That incident was isolated, per se, but there were times that people did find me in the halls or in hotels walking and wandering around aimlessly. I can't remember who it was that said that I should get some help, but I blew them off and just kept going losing touch of reality and gaining in dependence on drugs.

"I was a full blown junkie, Zoey," she states, "and I didn't care. The breakup with Paul, the…confusion going on in my head and just working in the whirlwind world of coordinating along with the drugs…cancelled me for a while. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even care if I lived or I died during this time.

"In retrospect, the drug bust that happened only a month after I passed out was a real wake up call for me. Kenny and I both got arrested and I lied so I wouldn't have to have everyone pointing the finger at me saying that I did all that I did. My story to the courts was…very convincing. I told the courts that I did not know of Kenny's connections to Avenue Five, and they believed me, even though I traveled with him for several months. I never got charged or spent another day in jail after that. Meanwhile, Kenny, who had prior and current connections with organized crime, got over two years in a juvenile prison."

"They arrested you for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, right?"

"Yes."

"But you do realize that you strung on a jury of your peers, the police and the judge throughout all of this? You lied to save yourself from going to jail. You're guilty of perjury, Dawn, and you got away with it. From a completely unbiased standpoint, you should go to jail for what you did!"

"How can you possibly say that?" Dawn asks, surprised at Zoey's stance in the matter.

"It's the fucking truth, Dawn!" she exclaims. "You lied to save your ass, bottom line! Sure you didn't let an innocent person take the rap for you, but you were wrong. You should feel guilty. I see why you didn't want anyone to know this, because you _are_ guilty."

"I was never charged with any crime, Zoey!" she contends. "That makes you dead wrong! I did whatever anyone else in my situation would do! You think I wanted to go to fucking jail? No!"

At this point, this once calm and collected conversation has escalated, or even denigrated, into a screaming contest. How did this happen so quickly? Zoey did know that Dawn did drugs and to hear her explain how she kept her secret without showing much remorse for the fact that she is an uncharged criminal who walks free because of her convincing storytelling on the judge's stand served to turn her off very much. The fact that she continues to defend what she did during this time over three years ago makes Zoey wonder about the younger teen's character, especially in times of crisis.

"Of course no one _wants _to go to jail," Zoey says, stating the obvious, "but like my mother and father said when I did wrong; if you do the crime, you have to do the time. Now I don't know about the statute of limitations for drug offenses, but something has to happen! You admitted everything to me and I'm supposed to just ignore that because of who you are and the role you play in my life? No! Fuck that! There's a little thing called ownership and it starts when you take responsibility for all the things, right and wrong, that you do in this life. You're not taking ownership over your circumstances, Dawn! You're passing them off to others instead! That doesn't speak well of you at all."

"What happened to water under the bridge?"

Slapping the bed and the bed sheets with her left forearm, Zoey gets up from her seat on the bed and yells, "The bridge has flooded, Dawn, and it's flooded because of your rampant lying and half-truths! You just keep showing me your true colors the more you talk! I'm disappointed in you for falling for that wolf in sheep's clothing, Kenny, and I'm disappointed that you're too chicken to stand up and tell people what really fucking happened. That's why I'm mad and screaming right now!"

Standing up in response to Zoey's rant, Dawn answers back, "Tell people what happened, right? So that means that I'll go to jail for…well we can now add perjury to all the shit I've done! Look, the fact is no one else is gonna look out for me, Zoey, except me, and that's the reason why I did everything I did. All of it being for me, for my reputation and even how my…future children are perceived!" Dawn mulls over what she just said and realizes that her words are not completely correct. Less than a second after saying the statement above, she adds, "Well, you know what? Now that I think about it, I can modify that a little bit. On Thursday, when you caught me crying, it was partly because I learned that it really has been a long fucking time since I've been addicted and since all the shit from way back when, which you said you wouldn't be mad or angry about."

Then Dawn steps closer to Zoey so that they are standing just inches from one another. Angry that here and now she is not getting her support, she points a finger into Zoey's face and continues, "My mother told me Kenny got released from prison on Thursday, Zoey. This is after he served a sentence of 28 months. He's supposed to report to a parole officer and live in a halfway house for a while. That's why I was so stressed out and broken down then. I have damn good reason to feel bad for what I've done because if he ever finds me, he might want to kill me! And you know something else? He'd be very justified to do that based on all the truth I've just told you."

"You know something, and this might not strike you as that terribly obvious when you hear it," Zoey contends, "but the fact is that if you had told the truth from the very beginning, I doubt you would be in the mess that you are in right now."

"Had I told the truth, thereby incriminating myself," Dawn counters, "I would have been in jail. Who knows what would have happened to me then! I might not have even gotten with you, you might not have gotten the chance to tell me your feelings and we probably would have never gotten together in the first place!"

"At the very least, I think it would be important for me to know this!" Zoey says. "If we ever got serious, I think that I would want to know these things! All right, you know what? Let's just say the shoe is on the other foot…"

"All right, that's not fair, Zoey," Dawn interrupts, "because if the shoe were truly on the other foot, you can't tell me that you wouldn't feel shame or feel like you were letting the people you loved down by doing what you were doing. Okay, you can't have it both ways! You can't be a brave girl and not be afraid of what people say while at the same time being self-conscious about the things that you do or have done! That's two different ways of looking at the same puzzle, Zoey! The shoe cannot go on the other foot because the shoe doesn't fucking fit!"

"You don't need to raise your voice…"

"Shut up! You are not my mom so stop trying to play mommy with me! It's not working and quite frankly, it's very childish of you Zoey. Can't you see? We're two different people when it comes to a lot of this. You have this big family which supports you for the most part, and I just have my mom. Dad…it's not even worth mentioning," she laments, turning away from Zoey, regretting much of this conversation and its roots.

"Dawn…"

"He fucking abandoned us, all right?" she clarifies, turning back in the direction of her girlfriend with new tears in her eyes. "I don't like to talk about it, so there! No more about him. He didn't want anything to do with me and my mom and I don't want a goddamn thing to do with him. So I hope you understand that at times, I'm quite jealous of you and the great relationship you have with your dad because of this. More truth for you, girl, and it hurts...on both ends."

"Dawn, I'm very sorry that that happened to you," Zoey admits, "I really am, but I don't like the fact that that sounds like an excuse for your…"

"Screw you, Zoey," she scornfully interjects.

"What?"

"I didn't try to make it into a fucking excuse!" Dawn exclaims. "You wanted the truth, and I gave it to you! I didn't have to tell you about my so-called father, but you wanted me to tell the truth and I did!"

"But you said you were jealous of me, Dawn!" she retorts. "Okay, you're jealous of the role that my father plays in my life. That's natural, but at the same time I'm listening to every word you are saying. Forgive me if it sounds like an excuse to cover up some sort of other inner problem you might have!"

"Well, excuse me Doctor Zoey," she facetiously replies, "but if you let me get everything out in the open, then maybe you'll be in a better position to form a conclusion on me and my actions over the years."

"Then I'm all ears!" Zoey responds in abject frustration. Sitting back down in her seat on the bed she implores Dawn to, "Please continue in this grand admission of truth. I'll keep my mouth shut for this!"

'Arrogant bitch,' she thinks. "Okay, I think we've gone quite a bit off course. I'll say this about the time after the trial. I got back in touch with my mother and the first thing she did was send me to detox and rehab. I no longer have any desire to take any drugs and I…I'd like to say that I'm cured, but I'm always recovering; such is the plight of an addict. You never cease becoming one. So I quietly just continued to coordinate in those years afterwards with everyone thinking that I just spent time in physical rehab."

"Another lie," and before Zoey can be chastised for interrupting her girlfriend, she says, "I'm sorry. This is your time. Please continue."

"Thank you, Zoey. Now, I came back and just coordinated until all of that came to a head at the Grand Festival. I stood up and defended you in front of friends. I stood up and defended our relationship in front of my own mother. I've had a lot of time away from loved ones of my own. I loved you and a part of me felt that being with you was the right thing for me to do. I needed something different. I had to affirm in my mind that I could love with no problem and carry on a relationship with someone with little to no problem, as well.

"I've said things that I've never said before and never thought would come out of my mouth. Most of them are the truth. I've come to know a great person this past week, Zoey, and I'm thankful for the time I've spent with you and your family, even the ones that don't support us, I'm thankful for them. I've had a great vacation and I'm happy to have gotten away from the negative media and to not be bombarded by…poison every day or a have a microphone in my face just as often. And the one thing that I have said that is the honest-to-goodness truth is that…I love you, Zoey Neale. That's the truth. We will disagree about things, just like we're doing right now, but I still love you. But the fact is that I've lied to you about something that is…really silly when I think about it. I've lied to you about something I should not have lied to anyone about. If I told the truth to my mother, your brother Corey, or anyone else that cared to ask, I would not be here right now caught in a non-truth. It didn't have to come down to this. Zoey, please understand me when I say that this does not effect the way I feel about you in the least bit, but…I'm not a lesbian. Really, I'm not gay. I'm not even bisexual."

"Oh, my God," Zoey exclaims in response, hanging her head and clenching both of her fists in response to what she hopes is the final fib from this girl she is finding out the truth about as time goes by.

"Please, I told you…"

"No," she counters, "I don't wanna hear anymore."

"I said I still love you, damn it! So stop crying about it! I'm not gay; so what? Nothing's changed between us! I told you that. You'd know if you'd listen."

Turning around to face Dawn while still in the bed, she admits, "It's just like you said, Dawn! You did not have to hide something that is so damn trivial. You lied right to your mother's face and told her that you are gay when you are not. Why?"

"I thought I was, okay? I thought it was true, but I took the definition of what that meant out of context. I—and I gotta admit that I was scared about it because I wondered if a guy ever came along that would make me feel as good as or better than I feel with you right now."

"Dawn!" Zoey exclaims, sitting up very quickly. Facing the other girl in the room, she says, "That sounds like more fucking excuses! If you haven't already figured it out, I'm sick of the excuses! I could give a shit about your sexual orientation! It doesn't matter to me, but if I can't trust you, we have no business being together."

"Zoey," she speaks, "you're not saying…"

"Look, I'm not saying anything, all right?" she asks. "I'm just pissed! Can't I just be pissed off? You lie about a lot of shit! I don't know what's the fucking truth anymore, and I don't know which way is up!"

"I'm telling the truth now! I swear, and I don't know how the hell I can be put through this trial by fire yet you get to just throw out whatever feelings are on your mind!"

"I'm not the fucking pathological liar, Dawn! You know my story…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop! Stop it! Shut the fuck up! You stop lying to me, right now! You see? I just caught _you_ in a lie, Zoey!" she counters. "Lest we forget, Zoey, you kept the family reunion from me! You lied to me about your mother's side of the family! You're not really a fucking angel yourself!"

"I never fucking claimed to be one!" Zoey screams.

"Well, neither did I!" Dawn replies, her face becoming blood red due to the current screaming contest she is having with her girlfriend. "We're both guilty of it! I don't see why everything I've done has to look so…evil compared to your so-called lily white lies!"

"I didn't commit any fucking crimes against the law, Dawn!"

"But you lied to me, so that makes me no worse than you!"

"All right, hold on now! I know you don't believe that for one second. Do I have to spell it out for you? It seems like it because it sounds like you're suffering from a bad case of selective hearing, where you only hear what you wanna hear!"

Dawn would be lying if she said that she was not offended by the words that just came out of her girlfriend's mouth. It sounds as if even with all that she was willing to admit during this lengthy talk with her that she still does not trust her. Enraged that even with all that she did to try and clear her name and let all the truth out at her girlfriend's request that Zoey is still angered at her for keeping her lies in the first place, she seeks a release and purposefully slaps the other girl across the cheek. "Fuck you, Zoey!" she exclaims. "Here I am bearing my fucking soul to you and telling every motherfucking truth I know and you don't believe me! Why? Why? I have nothing else to say to you! I've got nothing else to give to you or anyone else! I've said all I can fucking say, so why the fuck do you not believe me?" Not even two seconds of silence passes before Dawn begs of Zoey, "Please tell me what I have to do to gain your trust!"

"That hurt like hell," Zoey answers, tending to her now cheek which is now red due to Dawn's hand imprint. "You know what? I don't know! I don't…I don't fucking know, you know? I would have thought that you'd be one to stand on your own feet, though, but I'm not even sure if you can do that. I see you and I don't feel like you can't go without lying for so long because it's become a huge part of your life these past four years—no. It has amounted to much of your fucked up existence for the last four years! If you've lied so much about so much…then you're testing people's trust. How can you expect people to believe you if they can't rely on whatever comes out of your mouth?"

"I've said all I can say, Zoey! Why in the world would I lie about the shit I've done in my life? It does not get much worse for someone than it did for me during that time. But guess what? I did it! I overcame…everything to come out a better person! And knowing how difficult it is to get a second chance in this world, I guarded the media reputation of Dawn Berlitz like a fucking hawk to make sure no one knew or would say anything about my past. I held it all together…until today.

"I held it because it was the right thing to do for me. How else could I keep my…freedom? How could I possibly do that, Zoey? I couldn't. If I didn't do it, I would certainly not be able to stand on my own two feet, just like you were saying."

"But you base your foundation on lies, Dawn!" Zoey counters. "You cannot base a relationship on that! It will always fall and fail! I haven't lied to you about anything so negative! When I did lie, it was to protect you and look out for you, but I learned because of my parents that lying didn't do me any good! I told you about how May and I did a lot of playing when I grew up and better understood my sexuality. I told you that for much of my time, I've been discriminated and faced rumors about me for a long time. I've had a really boring life! There is nothing else that I can add to the discussion. But after everything I've went through, I can honestly say I've never stabbed anyone in the back, lied, or…"

"Whoa! Stabbed in the back? Stabbed in the—how the fuck did I stab someone in the back? A guilty kid who was found to have done, dealt and possessed drugs went to jail!"

"You should've gone there with him! And you know this, too, but you stand there defending yourself after _all_ this time! You're a spineless bitch who couldn't take her punishment like a man!"

Gasping for a second, Dawn does not show any feeling toward the very hateful words of a person she claims to love. As Zoey paces back and forth in the room, she comments, "Oh yeah? Well…you're an elitist bitch! You get on this high horse and you call me out on every wrong that I've done! Your grandparents told me that that's not right. You can't do that without expecting the same treatment from someone else. We all have dirt! I did drugs, and you stuck your nose into my private business and a subject that has been closed for years. You and your bitch ass sister! I'm a spineless bitch? Fuck…no! You're the one with no fucking spine! You hide behind me when things get tough and I often have to be the spokesperson for this fucking love affair while you toot the 'woe is me' horn and say how hard it is out here for a lesbo!

"It's crap! It's nothing but a bunch of crap! You're life has not been difficult in the _slightest_ bit. Your family is the reason for that, and I am jealous, but it's not like I'm trying to cover something up here with the jealousy! I'm just telling you how I feel! Do _you_ hear yourself talking at all? That's your subconscious and insecurity talking, Zoey, when you say that I'm using my jealousy to try and cover up for something else! You're looking for me to…unearth more lies. Well it is not gonna happen! I've said all that I can and will say! That's your crime, Zoey! You don't want to trust me even after I've given you everything you fucking wanted! I think that…that might even be worse than my crimes? What do you think? And for your information, Zoey, the reason I couldn't take my punishment like a man is because I'm not a man…and neither are you!"

Still pacing back and forth in the room, Zoey takes exception to these latest remarks from Dawn. Charging in her direction, she presses Dawn against the bedroom wall using her hand to hold her there by the sternum. The only thing either of them can hear is their hard breathing as they stand in this position…and then Zoey leans forward. "You think you're really funny, huh? I know what I said! Don't try and twist my fucking words, Dawn. I don't know, you just might lie some more."

"You know what? I think you should back off!" Dawn responds by poking Zoey in the chest. "You're being a real bully, and I've learned over the years that you gotta stand up to some people so they'll leave you alone. You don't want to test me, Zoey. I beat Rocky's ass and if you wanna go, I'll beat your ass, too! I don't care _who _you are! Besides, if my words haven't worked with you maybe my fists will!" This remark is punctuated by Dawn forcefully shoving the slightly older teen away from her.

Zoey stays separated from the other coordinator for a few seconds before saying, "Stop it! I don't want it to come to this!"

"Or what, you insecure bitch?"

"You're not gonna call me that anymore!" she tells her with her voice wavering in emotion.

"Does the truth hurt, you big baby? Are you gonna cry?"

"Stop it!" Zoey pleads, actually crying in the face of her girlfriend. "I don't deserve to be called that! I am not a bitch no matter what you say!"

"And I am?" she questions. "All the shit you've done and the lies you told right to my face and you say 'I don't deserve to be called that' in the face of all of that? I might have hid things from you, but no. I never lied directly to your face like you've done to me!" While Zoey shakes and tears up at Dawn's words, she cannot help but want to get the last word in edgewise to sum everything up. "You are a hypocritical _cunt_!"

Something snapped, which is a terrible excuse to use for anything like this, but it is the best way to describe why in the world Zoey would punch Dawn to the ground and place her hands near her neck. "Say it again!" she yells. "Say it one more time and I'll beat the fuck out of you right now!"

"You better get the fuck off of me, or I swear you'll regret it!" This is the moment where the door of her room opens and Rocky comes in to find Zoey on top of Dawn while they are on the floor.

"Zoey, what in the world…what is going on here?" she asks, getting her sister off her girlfriend. Looking her in the eye, she inquires, "What happened?"

Before Zoey can answer, Dawn takes control of the room and says, "I'm out of here!"

"How the fuck are you gonna leave?"

"I'll find a way. Don't worry about it, asshole," she responds, leaving through the door.

"Yeah!" Zoey exclaims. Following Dawn out to the hallway, she adds, "And while you're at it, if you have any spine, if you have any womanhood in that body of yours you'll tell everyone the truth about _everything_ when you leave!" The noise from the hallway causes a few people to open the doors leading to the other room and find out what is causing the ruckus.

"Zoey…go fuck yourself. I am so out of here," and with that, she walks down the stairs and away from Zoey.

"Fine! Go! Get the fuck out of here and don't come back, coward! But if you don't tell the media everything when you leave here, you are a coward and you can go straight to hell for all I care!" That remark does turn a few family members in the hallway off as they caution Zoey to calm down. The different voices in her head and the level of tension in the hallway causes Zoey to clam up and head back into her room and shut the door behind her. Rocky, who never left her sister's room, walks on a tightrope as she wonders how to approach her sister, who is now sobbing while on the floor in a heap.

Not going to either hug or touch her sister as of yet due to this natural hesitation, Rocky instead asks her a question she asked minutes prior to now. Calmly, she asks, "What happened, Zoey?"

Still hysterically sobbing on the floor, the young teen admits, "I am an asshole. Will she even think that this is worth saving after all I've said and done? I never told her that you gave me all that information about Kenny and the drugs, just like you told me. I thought she would take responsibility for what she did, but she kept defending herself. If she would have owned up to what she did, Rocky, I'd see her differently. She doesn't get it. She's playing the victim here!"

"What would you do if she did agree to turn herself in, Zoey?"

"I'd support her, but she doesn't think that she has to turn herself in," she counters. "I…I could have given her time to think about turning herself in. I could've really considered taking a walk in her shoes but I didn't. I even told her to get out. I punched her in the face and threatened to do more!"

"Kiddo, you have to do some…" before Rocky can finish her sisterly advice, her left leg is squeezed by Zoey as she bawls once again.

"What have I done, Rocky?" she screams. "I love her and I did this? I'm a monster!"

"No, you're not!" Rocky contends, picking Zoey up off the ground and standing her up. "Look at me. Look at me, Zoey Domenica Neale, and listen to me! Yes, you fucked up! You should not have put your hands on her at all, but this is not the end. Give her some space and time. You probably won't get her back as a girlfriend, but I think the important thing to do is make sure that Dawn does not leave here hating you for what you did. She can go back to the media and…then what?

"Look, honestly, you don't need to worry about that right now. Dawn can't leave the house for good…_if _she does not have her stuff. She will have to come back in here because some of it is still in this room. She's probably talking to someone about arrangements to leave here."

"Her mother," Zoey whispers. "She'll want to fucking kill me if Dawn tells her what I did."

"I see. The best thing you can do right now is allow Dawn to let off some steam. Stay away from her and give her some space. Meanwhile, you tell mom and dad _everything _that happened here, leave absolutely _nothing_ out, and then you and Dawn set time aside to have a real talk…with no arguments, yelling, screaming or anything else like that. If it ends well, fantastic because there is still such a thing as a second chance in this world." Now holding onto her sister's shoulders, Rocky adds, "But damn it, Zoey, you have to prepare yourself for things to not end the way you want. That is very possible because you…crossed the line of what is acceptable. What you did…you cannot do that again, especially to someone you claim to love, you understand?"

Nodding, Zoey answers her sister's question without saying a word. "Okay," Rocky answers. "Give me a hug," she requests. Hearing the sniffles from her baby sister, the journalist understands that Zoey might need more of a release so she tells her to, "Let it all out, girl," and she does so, saturating Rocky's blouse while admitting that she's scared that Dawn will leave her.

"Look," Rocky responds while still rocking Zoey back and forth, "she has all the reason in the world to want to leave you! You have to be ready to be very disappointed soon. I want you to know that I love you and will support you no matter what happens."

"Thank you, Rocky," Zoey strains. "I never knew that being in love would be…this painful."

'You're learning, Zoey,' Rocky ponders. 'Now if only I could show you the way.' Gripping her tighter, she assures her sister, "Everything's gonna be okay. You just have to believe."

"I will," she whispers as she slowly falls asleep in her sister's arms. Humming a lullaby to make the transition to sleep world easier, she picks her sister up and sends her to the bed so she can get some rest.

Once Zoey gets placed onto the bed by Rocky, the door to the bedroom opens again and Adman sees the scene. He came up to ask Zoey or Rocky why Dawn rushed out of the house and outside so quickly, but when he saw the scene of his oldest daughter putting the middle child to bed, he had to stop and take the moment in.

Noticing her father by the door, Rocky goes up to her and quietly says, "Give her some time; she'll talk to you later."

"But what about Dawn?"

"That's what she'll talk about. For now…it's been real rough. Let's just give her some space." Afterwards, Rocky leads her father out of the room, closing the door behind her making sure she does not make a lot of noise.

* * *

In her bed, May is thankful for her mother in that she stood up to Norman and his double standards and allowed her to continue to stay in their home for as long as she wanted. With half an hour having passed since the very heated conversation between the Maples concerning May and her many transgressions, she knows what kind of a bullet she dodged given that she faces no punishment other than the loss of a boyfriend she no longer loves and the scorn from a father she's slowly but surely beginning to hate.

With her phone in her hands, she makes an effort to stay on top of things she forgot or paid little attention to while she centered her mind on her personal problems. Using the speed dial option, May again phones the individual at the top of her list and waits as several rings go by.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end speaks the feel of sleep very prevalent in the words of this person on the line.

"Kelly, it's me, May."

"May? Sorry, I was laying down when I heard my phone," she explains. "I thought I turned it off, but I guess not. What's up?"

"I told Drew and my parents about me…or should I say us."

Hearing this causes her to sit up in the bed and take more than just a passing interest in the conversation from this point forward. "And? What happened? How did it go?"

"Well, it's complicated," she admits. "Drew…hated it, and said without any sugarcoating that he hates me. He left not that long ago to head home and we are officially broken up. That's the easy part. Max knows about it. He initially didn't like it, but eventually stood behind me as I do him. He is going to be a father."

A gasp on the other end perks Kelly up even more and then a question arises. "Is Misty the mother?"

"Yes—wait. How did you know that?"

"Max was not very careful about keeping his girlfriend secret around me. What about your parents? How did they take the news?"

"Well…differently. My father…absolutely freaked out when he heard the news and threatened to kick me out of the house."

"Jesus, May! I didn't…how did he not get his way?"

"My mother," she answers with a smile. "I didn't believe it at first. I did not know that she would stand up for me even when she knows that I'm a lesbian and I cheated for so long. Even with all the shit I've done…" the emotion cannot come out any other way. What just occurred in the house causes tears to flow out of May's eyes like no one's business. Her mother is the sole reason why she has a place to live and spend the night and no amount of 'thank yous' or 'I love you, moms' can pay her back for this one afternoon of loving so much that it hurts. "I can't thank my mom enough, Kelly. She…she's a real angel. She didn't have to do that. She could have left me in the streets to rot like my father probably wants to do. I have been really bad these past several years so I don't blame him for feeling that way. Even through all of that for her to say she loves me is…affirmation. I am where I belong."

"I am glad to hear that, May," she answers. "Believe me, if anything happened to you, you would not be out on the streets. Like I said to you Friday night, you always have a home here with me."

"Thanks…and before I forget, there is one piece of business I need to square away before I hang up…I'm sorry, Kelly. I'm sorry for…calling you selfish for wanting to come out. I'm sorry if I sounded irrational yesterday. I was not thinking straight, but now that I've come clean to my folks I feel better about this."

"Well, if you haven't already heard the news," Kelly replies, "I finally decided to come out today."

"You were gonna do it whether you agreed with me or not, right?"

"Yeah, this was personal. I feel that I made the right decision, but the past few hours have been filled with nothing but phone calls from people who are concerned."

"Concerned?"

"Yeah, it stems back to when I was very promiscuous and did it with anyone that didn't have a dick. You were there for that time. It's funny that I can make light of it now, but I get the feeling that there are those who want to make sure our…private sessions remain exactly that."

"You're not that kind of person, Kelly, to put that information out for the world to see," May says. "I mean, what you could possibly gain from knowing that is beyond me. My goodness, good luck with that but in the near future do you think that you could set aside time to meet with my mom and dad? They—or should I say my mom would like to have a word with you."

The businesswoman sighs at the proposal given to her by her sweetheart. "Anything for you, May," she concedes. "Anything else before I hang up?"

"Yes," she adds after three seconds of silence. "Drew is heading home and is steaming mad after all that has happened. He mentioned that I shouldn't have hidden this from him…and he talked about how his sister Ryan did the same." Finally, May gives Kelly a good word of advice. "If Drew _ever_ finds out that you had sex with his sister when she was _ten_, you better be halfway across the world because he will kill you."

"I understand this," she retorts with little emotion in her voice, "but how do I connect with Ryan? The short answer is there is _nothing _that connects me with Ryan in any way, shape or form. What does that mean? There is no lead in my direction."

"Maybe, but just…take care. I mean, you talked about turning over a new leaf in your life? Well, I want to see if it's for real or not. Be careful, Kelly. This…Drew obviously doesn't know what I know about Ryan. If he did, then we're all in trouble."

"Again, there are no leads and Ryan won't rat me out. She talked to me earlier, May. We both take equal blame. And besides, the issue is a dead one. The courts declared the case closed. What are they gonna do? If Ryan doesn't want to pursue me, which she doesn't, then I'm in the clear. Only you, Ryan and I know about what happened that night and that's how this matter is going to stay."

"If you say so. Mum's the word, then. I'll talk to you later and we'll make arrangements for when you and my parents can meet."

"Very well. I love you and I'll talk to you later."

"Bye now," May bids in a form of farewell.

"Bye," and with that, both phones hang up. With both minds somewhat clear given all the circumstances, this is a good step in the right direction. There will likely be a backlash in the planned meeting given Norman's feelings of intense dislike, but given Caroline's hard stance against any grave form of punishment, May knows that she has an ace up her sleeve in her mom.

For the first time in a long time, May comfortably rests on her bed without any feelings of betrayal or deceit running through her. She is content right now and life is very good, so she relaxes in preparation for a brief sleep and recharging of her internal battery.

She has won this initial battle, but must be fit and prepared for the war to come.

* * *

There are slightly more than ten people that are looking at the floor of the Pewter Gym awaiting what should be a real treat as a six-on-six Pokémon battle is about to take place. Forrest has use of the gym's official Pokémon while the tandem of Brock and James had their choice of Pokémon from their past travels. After two hours, both sides came together and alerted the other side of them being ready for the procedures.

All of Forrest and Brock's siblings want to be a part of what should be a great battle, so they take up different roles. The twins of the family and the youngest of the ten, Billy and Tilly, serve as the scorekeepers for the match and their job will be to keep track of the Pokémon each side uses. Billy will keep score of Forrest's Pokémon while Tilly will do the same for the tandem of James and his boyfriend, battling as one.

The timekeeper for this bout will be Cindy, the fifth youngest sibling in the family who will watch the clock in case the bout goes to a time limit draw of sixty minutes and ring the bell to signify the beginning and end of the battle. Should this event occur, there are three judges who will render a decision of the winner based on points. In order of age these judges include Yolanda, Tommy and Timmy. One referee, Suzie, has been assigned in the battle to ensure that no Pokémon goes longer then they are able to. And the final member of the family taking part in the festivities is the third oldest child of the family who signals to Cindy that she should ring the bell to bring the battle to order.

She does so and while holding a wireless microphone, Salvadore gives the official announcements. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Pewter City gym!" This statement elicits a great positive response from everyone, including Lola and Flint who watch from a bench on the ground floor. "Sanctioned by the Kanto Region Pokémon Gym Commission and League Conference Championships of the Kanto region, today we bring you a six-on-six Pokémon…battle!

"And now, the rules of this bout; this battle is a grudge match under best of six rules. There are a maximum number of substitutions allowed from either side and that number is three in all. If more than three substitutions are performed by either side, they will relinquish the use of one Pokémon. A Pokémon is eliminated when they are unable to continue in battle. _Only _the referee in charge can determine this and her decision is final. The winner of this battle is the side which defeats all six of the Pokémon on the other side. This bout has a sixty minute time limit. Should time expire, the decision of the victor will ultimately rest with our three judges sitting ringside; Yolanda, Tommy and Timmy.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, each side. First, the challengers. They arrive to Pewter as a tandem and compete as one on the battlefield and in life. They are the team of James and Brock!" A small applause given the small crowd watching is what they receive. They take the moment in given the gravity and the length of the battle they are about to take part in.

"And their opponent is the Gym Leader of Pewter City…Forrest!" and once more, a smatter of applause follows the introduction.

"Your referee in charge of this bout is Suzie!" is the final introduction Salvadore has to make for now as he watches both sides come to the center of the ring.

He gives the microphone to his younger sister who takes care of business, by explaining, "Okay, gentlemen. You three have been given the full rules of this bout. I expect _nothing _short of a good, clean battle from both sides. Obey my commands at all times and most of all, have fun. Now touch Poké Balls and come out ready to battle!" Taking out their respective Poké Balls, they follow the first instruction of Referee Suzie and then head back to their respective corners.

The official for this bout gives each side a few seconds to collect themselves given that the battle will be a lengthy one. Combining the desire to make sure that everyone is in place and there is a sensible reason for this brief delay. With everything set to go, all that is left to do is ask the players if they are set to go. Both sides nod their head and Cindy gets the signal from the referee to ring the bell by saying, "Let the battle begin!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Forrest exclaims, excited at the opportunity to battle his brother and boyfriend. Taking out one Poké Ball, he says, "Marowak, front and center!" and out comes the ground type.

"All right," Brock replies. Throwing his first ball on the field, he screams, "Go, Ludicolo!" sending out a real challenge from the get go as ground types are weak against both water and grass types, which this Pokémon is.

"You think I'm gonna substitute! No way! I'm just getting started! I'm gonna show you two how great this particular Marowak is! Start off with Leer!" and with that command, the Pokémon with a skull covering its head stares a figurative hole into Ludicolo. It is Forrest's hope that the attack will help in the more important mental battle that is about to be waged.

"All right. Respond, Ludicolo, with Nature Power!" Given that the battle is taking place on rock, this means that Brock's Pokémon will be using a Rock Slide attack against Marowak sending several large boulders in his direction.

"Marowak, stand your ground!"

'What?' James thinks. In any other scenario, the next likely command Forrest would give would be a dodge leading to another attack. 'Could we be seeing some strategy here?'

"Marowak, use Bonemerang!" Forrest calls. Throwing his signature weapon, the bone slices through the numerous rocks that were about to rain down upon him, splitting them in two. Then the bone comes back to him like a similarly named Australian weapon of choice.

"Good call, Forrest," Brock says, praising the efforts and plan of his little brother, "but you can only shake a type disadvantage for so long. Ludicolo, use Surf attack!"

"Crap!" he responds as Ludicolo moves his arms backward and then forward bringing about a large wave of water filling the battlefield and heading in the direction of his Pokémon. Then, thinking it over, Forrest determines that Marowak's time in this battle may not be up just yet. "Hey, Marowak! Use Bonemerang again! See if you can ride the wave on your bone!"

Forrest felt that the move was worth a shot if he could time the throw correctly with the arrival of the wave. As the Surf attack comes closer to his Pokémon, the object for the ground type now is to jump up and avoid coming in contact with the great surge of water. In that time, he is able to get the bone back into his hands, place it underneath his feet and ride the bone like a surfboard.

"Where's Marowak?"

"James, I don't know!" Brock replies. "I lost him in the Surf attack!"

"Turn it around, Marowak!" Forrest commands. "Aim for the source of the Surf using Aerial Ace!" his Pokémon cuts inside the wave and charges toward the source and smashing Ludicolo in the head with his bone, knocking him out with that one shot.

Suzie, watching the series of attacks play out in front of her, knows that there is no coming back from a shot and raises the green flag in her hand in favor of Forrest. "Ludicolo is unable to battle!" she declares. "Marowak is the winner!"

"Yes!" Forrest exclaims with a fist pump. "You did it, Marowak! You beat the odds again!"

"Ludicolo, return!" Brock responds, calling his Pokémon back into his Poké Ball. "You did a great job, my friend." Deactivating the Poké Ball, he turns to James and says, "The stage is yours, man. Show him what you've got!"

"Right then!" he replies, gaining in confidence. Throwing his Poké Ball, James does not announce his Pokémon to the crowd in attendance. It is only after he comes out of the ball that people can see that James has brought his Cacturne out for the party.

"I like this," Brock admits. "He's no longer pricking you with his love. He even looks intense out there in the heat of battle. Gardenia has done an awesome job!"

"I know, right?" James asks.

"Another grass type, huh? No worries! We'll do this again! Marowak, keep at your pace and let's try the same game plan. Use Fling on Cacturne, now!" This attack Forrest has in mind is a simple throw of the bone by his ground type in the direction of James's grass type to keep him on his toes.

'Hmmm,' James things. "You think I'm going to fall for something _that _simple, Forrest? Don't take me for a fool! Cacturne, catch the bone and hold onto it for now!" The bone, aimed at James's grass Pokémon is easily caught by him. Following his former trainer, he just keeps the bone in his possession by holding it tightly with his right hand.

"Don't try to get it back, Marowak," Forrest assures. "We might not need it. Let's just wait and see what they do and head them off at the pass."

"Just keep the bone in your hand, buddy."

"What in the world—James, do something! Forrest might attack!"

"I'm just waiting for the right moment, Brock," he says softly. With a sly smile, he adds, "Remember, I have his property and Marowak will likely want it back. It's not in his nature to rest on his laurels when I have something as important as his bone."

"Why doesn't Forrest attack, dear?" Lola questions.

"Well, I'm not the greatest expert on grass types," Flint begins, "but I think that it might have to do with a certain attack that Cacturne knows. If Marowak comes with the full force of his power to get his bone back, it could backfire on him."

Frustrated at the lack of battling taking place in this past half minute, Marowak attempts to appeal to his trainer to have him battle and get his bone back. Forrest hears none of it, though, telling him, "We don't need the bone right now, buddy. Just focus on winning for now and you'll get it back. I promise. Now…focus," he hints, raising his eyebrows three times. "Focus Energy, Marowak. Use that!"

Obeying the command the Pokémon powers up in preparation for a potentially battle-ending attack coming up. With the non-damaging attack, he builds up power and focuses on the more important task of taking care of his adversary on the field of battle.

While all of this occurs, James is steadfast in his belief that it is best for Cacturne to look at Marowak's condition and take a wait and see approach as far as attacking. The constant call for him to hold his ground does not fall on death's ear as he begins to understand James's rationale just like Flint believes he does.

Fifteen seconds worth of Focus Energy on Marowak's side has him well prepared for what amounts to 'the kill' in a battle as he prepares to go all or nothing in what has turned out to be quite the mental battle between ground and grass. "Now, Marowak!" Forrest literally screams, "Use Double Edge!"

As Marowak barrels in the direction of his rival for the moment, the combination of frustration from not being able to attack and not having his prized possession at his side drives him in his desire to milk this attack for all that it is worth. The Marowak train is barreling down the tracks with seemingly nothing in its way to stop it as James stands in the foreground of his former Pokémon doing nothing in return. The only difference in his look compared to earlier when Forrest's Marowak is that it now has a smile on his face akin to the little boy who got away with sticking his hand in the cookie jar.

"Gotcha, Forrest!" he exclaims before commanding, "Cacturne, use Sucker Punch!" The result is one that few in the gym expected to see with the lone exception of those aforementioned few who had a feeling that James had a secret weapon on his hand. Before Marowak could complete the hard tackle on Cacturne, he thrust forward with all his weight onto Marowak, not only giving him a hard punch on his skull but also knocking him out cold with his own bone and dropping the object in front of Marowak's face. There was nothing technical about the knockout, but this entire battle contained strategy beyond normal call and response for attack purposes.

Everyone in the area is quite impressed at this unique strategy by both gentlemen as they showed how battling can truly be an exercise of the mind when needed. Even the referee of the bout had to take some time and compose herself after this well thought exchange. After a while, however, Suzie does waive the red flag for James and Brock, saying "Marowak is unable to battle! Cacturne is the winner!"

"Awesome job, James!" Lola congratulates from the stands.

"You did it, man!" Brock commends high fiving the older male before giving him a hug, which causes James to turn red from slight embarrassment.

"Return, Marowak," Forrest calls, bringing his Pokémon back into its ball. "Great job. You've earned a rest." Putting his Poké Ball off to the side, he brings out his second ball and calls out, "Cradily, front and center!" Out on the stage comes a Pokémon that looks like a sea barnacle with a few tentacles coming out of the side.

"Rock and grass type, huh?" Brock comments. "Great combination, Forrest, but I think that we can still hang on in this. James?"

"Got ya, Brock! Cacturne, use Pin Missiles!"

"Cradily, dodge the missiles and counter using Gastro Acid." Spewing acid in the direction of the cactus Pokémon, Cradily makes it his mission to just hit Cacturne, who did expel a lot of energy from the previous battle with Marowak due to the one powerful attack he used in that battle.

While Cacturne continues to barely dodge the acid, he finds it more and more difficult as time goes on. Unfortunately, the dipping and the dodging from the Pokémon has its effects due to fatigue and he gets caught by the acid. This attack damages him, thereby leaving him quite vulnerable for a follow up attack from his adversary.

"Hang on, Cacturne! You can snap out of it!"

"Not so fast, James!" Forrest counters. "Cradily, you've got him on a silver platter! Use Sludge Bomb!"

Yet another poison attack, this time a more powerful one than the last, does make very quick work of the fellow grass Pokémon by covering him with the oily mixture and rendering him in the words of referee Suzie, "Unable to battle. Cradily is the winner!"

"That was nice while it lasted," James admits. "Return Cacturne!" Once completely back into his Poké Ball, he also adds that, "I know I made the right decision leaving you with Gardenia. Fantastic job!"

"Flint, don't you think that that battle went by…pretty quickly?"

"Well, Lola, I think it might have to do with the fact that the guys have been away from battling for so long," he explains. "There has to be some sort of disconnect from how they battled before incarceration and now. There is no escaping that because when battling, all your focus has to go to battling. Also, I think that…going for the kill or that one attack to end it is a nice strategy to use but only on occasion.

"If the attack works, then great. You've likely finished your opponent and won. If you don't score on your attack, you likely will lose a lot of your hit points, get weaker over time and…fall victim to attack. I think that's what happened here with Cacturne. Yes, the attack is powerful, but that power has to come from somewhere and sucker punches will drain Pokémon. So I think that's what we just saw occur here."

"All right, then. My turn! Sudowoodo, go!" Brock calls bringing out the wooden rock Pokémon for battle.

"Sudowoodo, huh?"

"Yes, brother! Sudowoodo, try a Faint Attack!" Drawing up to Cradily, he throws a quick punch at the Pokémon done more to frustrate his foe than anything else.

"Cradily, retaliate using Confuse Ray!" By nature, such an attack would be designed to halt the Pokémon on the other side from doing much else to him. In this case, even with a fresh Sudowoodo, the idea succeeds and Brock's Pokémon looks around the gym as if he has no idea what he is doing, where he is going or which way is up.

"Sudowoodo, try not to fall for it!" Brock begs of his friend out in the field of battle. "You have to shake Cradily's hold on you if you're going to win." The comments do not do much to help his Pokémon as he continues to look here, there and everywhere for some sort of answer to his confusion.

As this search continues, Forrest takes advantage of Sudowoodo's 'trip' like only a skilled trainer can. "Energy Ball, Cradily!" he calls, and a large ball of photons and coulombs flies in the direction of the rock Pokémon. That amount of energy hitting him at one time, no matter how fresh the monster in play is, does not bode well for the victim. In this case, it means that Sudowoodo will have to take an early shower and perhaps need a rubdown later.

The judges, consisting of Brock and Forrest's younger sister and brothers, cringe when they realize that the entire battle with Sudowoodo and Cradily only took about two minutes from start to finish. Many watching wonder if Brock's long layover from incarceration to freedom might have an effect on his concentration as far as focusing on such a lengthy battle as this one. "Sudowoodo is unable to go on! Cradily is the winner!"

After returning Sudowoodo to his Poké Ball, Brock cannot help but let his frustration out in the open. "My God, that's our third Pokémon down!" Brock says.

"Don't worry about it, babe," James assures his boyfriend. "I still have some tricks up my sleeve as do you. We always have to save the best for last, right? Let me try this now. Go…Chimecho!"

"What?" Brock questions. As James's Pokémon forms on the field, he also asks "You got Chimecho back?"

"Yes, I had a feeling that my little buddy could help us out," he explains. "Luckily, Nanny and Pop Pop were home so that I could make the transfer in time for the battle. I sure am glad that he's doing well."

"A Chimecho?" Forrest thinks about it and then pulls a card from the back pocket of his pants with the letter 'S' on it, showing it to the referee. "Suzie, I'd like to make a substitution."

"The green side will use their first of three substitutions in this battle right now."

"Return, Cradily," he says the idea being that he would give his Pokémon a rest and bring him back later. With that, a new ball comes into play. "Shuckle, make your move!" and a tangled rock/bug type enters into play against a small, floating psychic Pokémon.

"No problem," James says, confident in his words.

"Shuckle, quick! Wrap up Chimecho and give him the squeeze!"

"Chimecho, just keep dodging those cords and you'll be fine! Don't worry about attacking right now. Just don't…get…caught!"

With Shuckle attempting to trap James's Chimecho like the spider would trap a fly; Chimecho follows the orders of his friend quite well and flies high in the sky to avoid such a fate as the previous three Pokémon before him. In fact, Forrest can see quite clearly that the reach of his Pokémon on the battle floor would not be of any benefit towards him as Chimecho flies high in the lights avoiding the chase like he was avoiding the plague.

"Come on, Shuckle!" Forrest pleads of his current Pokémon.

"Now let's bore them to death!" he adds. "Chimecho, use yawn and keep it coming!" It was obvious to James that Shuckle would not back down from a potential wrap up of his Chimecho, so he decided to ease the tensions on the field and work at making Shuckle less willing to go all out to wrap up his rival in the name of his trainer and the gym. The plan works and little by little, the cords that once sought to put the squeeze of the significantly smaller Pokémon were now being taken back into his exoskeleton leaving him in nowhere near the position he once was in trying to bring down the little bugger up above.

It appeared that James learned from watching Sudowoodo's failed attempts to come back from a mind-altering attack and decided to turn the tables on Forrest. The plan is working quite well as Shuckle appears to be calm and content, leaving him open for a powerful attack such as, "Psywave, now!" The battle has quickly become the showdown of the setup commands and combinations that are leading to victories for the different Pokémon instead of simple use of high power. The referee raises the red flag and declares Shuckle unable to continue.

After returning the rock type, Forrest feels that it is important for him to reestablish his roots as a gym leader specializing in rock Pokémon. Giving his third Poké Ball a good grip, he throws it and out comes by far the largest Pokémon in his arsenal enters the stage to perform.

"It's Steelix!" Flint exclaims.

"This ought to be good," Lola addendums.

"Chimecho…"

"James, wait!" Brock interrupts, touching the older male's shoulder. "This one is kind of personal for me. Can we substitute?"

Knowing some information about how Onix, Brock's first Pokémon, serves a great importance to him, he decides to use Chimecho for later if need be. The duo uses their first substitution and makes the trade putting a new Pokémon on board for the task.

"Toxicroak, show your stuff!" and the evolved from of Croagunk now enters the playing field, the fifth Pokémon used by the red corner in this battle. For James, the switch to Toxicroak is a confusing one, because he felt that the reason behind the switch would be because Brock would want to put his Steelix into battle against his brother's knowing that they each had their own. He decides not to push the matter, though, knowing that Toxicroak does have some abilities which allow him to have a great advantage over steel or rock types.

"Use Brick Break on Steelix," Brock says, wasting little time in using the advantage fighting attacks have over rock Pokémon.

"Steelix, just take the hit for now!" Forrest says much to the surprise of everyone watching the procedures. "I want Toxicroak to be close to you, so just bear with the pain for now."

'What does Forrest mean he wants Toxicroak to be close to Steelix?' James wonders as Brock's Pokémon drives his attack in the middle of the snake-like body of the enormous rock/steel hybrid.

"Quick! Bind, Steelix!" Forrest calls as Toxicroak completes his maneuver. Steelix, though in a tremendous amount of pain, does wrap his body around the Pokémon coming into his personal space. From there, the grip gets tighter and tighter as the wind gets taken out of Toxicroak's sails and his gills as well.

"Hang in there, Toxicroak!" Brock calls to his friend in need as he can plainly see the pain on his face as the poison type gets the squeeze put on him that Chimecho was able to avoid earlier.

Running out of options given the position he's in, he finds one in the most unlikely of places, "Use Rain Dance, Toxicroak!" Turning around, Brock sees that James is the one who made that command and soon afterwards, the field gets a little bit wet. Rock Pokémon feel this more than most others, however, as Steelix begins to loosen the reigns on Toxicroak and then completely let go of him just a few seconds after that.

"That's the spirit, man!" Brock exclaims, patting James on the back for thinking on his feet the way he has over the course of this battle. "Now, Toxicroak, if you can stand it, let's try Focus Blast!" Yet another fighting attack combined with the pouring water is too much of a combination for Steelix to withstand and perhaps the most powerful Pokémon in this battle so far gets taken out of the battle due to weaknesses.

"Steelix is unable to battle!" Suzie says, surprised at this great turn of events. "Toxicroak is the winner!"

"Awesome call, James! Wonderful work by you, my friend!" Flint calls from the bleachers.

"Whoo!" Brock interjects. "We knocked out Steelix! I don't believe it!"

Returning Steelix, Forrest tells him, "You hung in there. It was too tough for you, man. I don't blame you for what happened. Just get a good rest and you'll get them next time. Now, Cradily, come back out!"

Suddenly, the mood in the gym changes from elation to wonder as everyone knows the damage that Cradily made earlier in the battle against the Pokémon of Brock and James.

"All right, new plan, Toxicroak! I want to see the Poison Sting attack!"

As Brock makes the command, he knows that Cradily has pulled a fast one on him and James more than once in battle. He would like to do the same and do it with gusto as Toxicroak charges forward towards his rival.

"Cradily, use Flash!" Once again, it seems that old habits of using confusion and other mental aspects of battle die hard as Forrest executes a flash against Toxicroak, who veers to the right of Cradily, missing him by just a little bit and hitting a boulder on the field. The hit is minor, but Toxicroak is consistent in wanting to make the attack work even though he is slightly disoriented. "Now, let's rain on _their_ parade! Use Rock Smash, now!"

In the pursuit of Cradily, Toxicroak slips up a couple of times and becomes the victim of a runaway boulder that smacks against his head, leaving him with the feeling of drunkenness without the potential after effects and a very loopy smile on his face after the treatment.

With two Pokémon remaining in the battle, James makes the decision to take charge and bring Chimecho back onto the field of play.

"Let's just keep going, Cradily. Hit Chimecho with Acid, now!" Shot after shot after shot of acid up in the air by Cradily has no effect. Chimecho, with his floating ability, is far too fast and evasive to get caught by any of these shots. Even calls of Bullet Seed, Energy Ball and Solar Beam do not carry with them the ability for Cradily to get any offense in the battle.

Forrest and Cradily both begin to feel the strain of not being able to capitalize on the advantage they have or the talent either one possesses as Cradily begins to grow very tired. Forrest grits his teeth as he watches the scene unfold much like a chase with the heavier and much taller Cradily losing by a landslide. "Wait! Don't try to chase him! It's not working!"

"Let's give him something else that doesn't work and finish him off with Extrasensory!" The power is not one that anyone in the gym can see happening, but it is effective. In a few seconds time, the grounded Cradily shakes a bit and then falls flat on the ground from the invisible force. The Pokémon that has gone the longest in this battle has finally met his match and gone out of the battle.

"Cradily is unable to battle!" declares referee Suzie. "Chimecho wins!"

"Yes, we got him out of there!" James says. "Great job Chimecho!"

"Great job indeed, James," Forrest admits. "You've got some great strategy there in battle. I've never seen someone do so much with so little. Well…I still have a plan in store for you. I think you will agree with me that this next one is quite the change of pace." Pulling out his fifth Poké Ball of the day, Forrest brings to the table one of the largest and most rotund Pokémon of them all in his Golem. "Start with Rollout, Golem!"

"Just stay up in the air, Chimecho!" James orders. "He can't do anything with you while you're up there and he's down here."

"Actually, that's not exactly true!" Forrest retorts. "Golem, let's see Rock Blast!" In very quick succession, five rocks are thrown up in the direction of Chimecho. The throwing is not effective as the much smaller Pokémon is able to move quicker and get away from the rocks with no problem.

"Oh, are you kidding me?" Forrest asks rhetorically. "He dodged them all?" Once again, he can feel this particular battle slipping due to the not-so-obvious height advantage he possesses by being able to fly. Now Forrest makes two firm grips with his fists to consider how he can solve this problem and get rid of a clear issue at hand.

"What are you going to do, Forrest?" James questions.

It is truly amazing how one simple word can say so much. In this case, the word coming out of Forrest's mouth is "Explosion," which causes everyone in the gym to do a double take as they understand the power of such a move on a match of this sort. Curling up into a ball Golem then blows up, expelling all of its energy outward and hitting Chimecho in the process. Golem could have used a slightly less powerful attack, but Forrest did not want to take any chances with this attack.

Explosion does its job and then some, leaving the two Pokémon down on the field out cold due to the magnitude of the command given. Those in the stands and others on assignment for the battle cannot believe what they've seen. Even the referee is breath taken at the sight; however she does regain her composure after a while. This is shown when Suzie raises both flags in the air and determines, "Both Golem and Chimecho are unable to battle!"

"Golem/Chimecho, return!" both trainers say. Both sides know that the battle has been a hard fought one leaving both of them down to their final Pokémon. Substitutions no longer have a basis in the match up as it will all come down to one choice of Pokémon by both sides.

"James, I know what to do for this one," Brock assures him. "Let me at him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah…I'm positive," he answers. "I have a feeling what Forrest is gonna bring out last. I have the perfect weapon against it, too."

"All right, Brock! Let's do this!" Forrest exclaims. "Rhyperior, the world is yours!"

"Swampert, round it out!" calls Brock and the final Pokémon to be used in battle are out in the open in the ultimate in rock/ground/water wars.

"All right! Fully evolved Pokémon to finish this off!" Flint remarks.

"This will wrap up quite a battle, for sure," Lola admits.

"Now, Rhyperior! Use Stomp on Swampert!" The idea behind such an attack is not so much for Forrest's Pokémon to flatten Brock's like a pancake, rather to cause a momentary flinch. Making the ground shake underneath him, Forrest then quickly makes another call. "Now, let's see Fury Attack!" This call has Rhyperior come close to Swampert in the hopes of drilling his horn into him.

"Swampert, dodge and use Water Gun!"

"Rhyperior, counter that with Hammer Arm!" The fighting attack works well against a weaker water attack and therefore has a better effect on Swampert causing him to backpedal for a bit.

"Hang tight, Swampert!" Brock says in response to the attack. "Try Muddy Water!" With Rhyperior's speed slowed down for one turn, the move works to near perfection as it covers the rock/ground type with murky water, weakening him significantly in the process.

"Rhyperior!" Forrest exclaims. "Hang on, buddy! Try Stone Edge against Swampert!" Now with his speed intact once again, Rhyperior goes about taking care of his foe using his horn.

"Swampert, counter that with Earthquake!" Brock's latest command proves to have positive effects as the shaking of the ground further disrupts the larger Rhyperior while he attempts to make headway in the match to no avail. "Now use _your_ Hammer Arm!" In a form of retaliation, Brock orders the fighting attack on Rhyperior, the most powerful natural attack it can learn by leveling up. The attack proves to be very successful due to Rhyperior not being able to recover enough speed from his Hammer Arm and a series of effective attacks designed to exploit the weakness of the rival Pokémon causing him to become weary yet put up a nice fight…until he finally falls to the ground fainting due to exhaustion.

The bell is rung by Cindy. Waiving the red flag, Suzie makes her final decision as referee. "Rhyperior is unable to battle! Swampert is the winner! In a time of twenty-seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds the match goes to the team of Brock and James!" This is one call from a referee that everyone actually agrees with for once and after all Pokémon are returned to their Poké Balls, the siblings, parents and trainers come to the center of the floor congratulating the participants for waging an incredible battle.

Forrest is especially appreciative of the effort put forth by his brother and his boyfriend and he lets them know it by shaking their hands and saying, "You two put up a hell of a battle! James showed me that he truly belongs here, as well, so I won't challenge the decision to have you placed here. In fact, do you mind serving as the deputy gym leader and referee for gym battles?"

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope," Forrest answers. "I think you've earned it. You pushed me to the limit in ways I haven't seen and that deserves some recognition. I also want to thank everyone for standing up against me and the ungrateful things I said a while back. I don't mean them anymore. I was mad, but now I'm happy knowing that my family is…whole again.

"Now I want to keep it that way. The fact is that we are all in this together, for better or for worse, just like mom said. I've decided to let stuff that happened in the past go. I can't control it. Who I can control is myself and how I take care of issues that come my way. I think it is best that I make things the best they can be…for all of us. So what do you say, James? Would you like to get on board with us? I think you've more than passed the test."

Nodding his head, he seals the handshake agreement by saying, "Yes. Whatever makes this gym succeed I want to be a part of. I've turned over a new leaf and…I'm happy that people can see that now. I don't need a life of crime or…drugs or money to make me happy. I just needed to find people I care about and vice versa. I just needed a family."

"Well, you've found one right here, James," Brock assures him.

"We promise to treat you like one of our own," Lola adds.

"You know what I say, kids?" Flint excitedly asks. "I say three cheers for James as part of our…extended family! Hip, hip…"

"Horray!" and they welcome one another with open arms through their cheers and positive words of encouragement. So it is true that in the heat of battle, one can find acceptance and love without the use of bloodshed, harsh words or broken confidence. Through respect and hard work, one can find love and often does do just that.

What lies ahead is the objective of keeping on the straight and narrow and not wavering from promises kept in the heat of the moment. Such actions do lend themselves to scrutiny and criticism from a mass audience and a family could not have much more mass than this one. Fortunately, due to said mass, many can be kept in line so that the guarantees of the future do not make one wish and long for a past of equivocal heartache…or even have a person question their actions to the point they question themselves.

Such actions could serve to ruin quite a beautiful family picture by one simple finger placed on a hair trigger designed to blow everything sky high and out of proportion.

Such an idea is out there and could serve as a reminder of life before…the family became jagged and fragmented.

Before James, but right after an incident considered nothing short of…rotten luck.

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

_For two people that are used to walking great distances, five miles sounds like a cakewalk and for the temporary comrades Ash and Jessie that is the case and then some. With two hours to get to Coral Creek, they make the walk with about ten minutes to spare and without having broken a sweat. Just as the younger of the two told Jessie earlier, this particular alleyway does not have great lighting therefore neither of them can see the other one changing into their respective uniforms. _

_The change takes a few minutes as both of them have to determine which way is the front and which way is the back on the Avenue Five uniform. After a while, they finally get it right, put their shoes on and head out into the streets once more to go to an area just outside of the gate of the Lilycove City Port Authority. The uniform appears to have a great futuristic touch as it is a one piece garment colored in metallic gray made of a cotton-polyester blend. Colored bands around the sleeves designate a rank of an operative from Commander all the way down to Officer. The brighter the color, the lower the rank and it does not get much brighter or lower than the color of band on each one's sleeve; white. _

_Around the one piece is yet another band; a black band which goes around the waist of the uniform and holds items of great importance. There are multiple holsters for weapons including guns, clubs and knives and places for Poké Balls. Gloves cover the hands and the thick material of the black gloves allows them to easily carry large boxes or containers from one place to another or operate metallic parts of machinery with minimal risk of injury to the wearer. Finally, to top off the entire ensemble, the crest of the 'Avenue Five' organization in the form of a patch adorns the right side of each temporary operative's chest. _

_The walk to the area for changing takes nowhere near as long as the walk towards the Port Authority gate. Near the guardhouse is a set of mailboxes, which the two hide behind waiting for the moment to strike. While here, the two take a moment to take in the silence of the early morning before heading into action when the time calls._

"_Okay," Jessie says. "Here we are."_

"_Yeah. No turning back this time for sure. I'm glad that I brought my Pokémon just in case."_

"_Look, Ash, I know I've said this time and time again but I'm glad that you're doing this."_

"_Hey, anyone that does the things to Pokémon that Avenue Five does deserves to get taken down a couple of notches. And I don't want to see James get too into these activities before it's too late."_

"_You know, you mentioned your Pokémon…I just remembered I haven't seen your Pikachu in a while! Where is he?"_

"_He…is living out every man's fantasy," Ash answers. "Because of his great performance in Pokémon League Championships, a lot of agents wanted to pay him…stud fees."_

"_Oh…holy shit! You mean he gets paid to make little Pichus all day?"_

"_Yep. The shelf life of a Pikachu in Pokémon battles is not really that long and I did notice his performance…drop a few times during his final year of league competition. So after a lot of negotiation I sent Pikachu to Professor Ivy who oversees all of the…duties that Pikachu tends to these days. Most of the money goes back to the project and I get a small piece as his owner."_

"_Define…small?"_

"_Well, it's about fifteen thousand dollars a pop…pardon my language."_

"_Wait, that's _your _cut?"_

"_Yeah. It's fifteen percent of the whole pie…"_

"_So wait…people are actually willing to shell out one hundred grand so that they _might_ have a Pikachu with the abilities that yours has? Am I right?"_

"_Well I'm not complaining, Jessie," Ash admits. "Pikachu gets to live the high life. My mother does not have to struggle anymore, and I can actually pay for things when I'm out on the road so I think that the tradeoff is a fair one."_

"_I just find the stud business so…unreal, you know what I mean? There is no guarantee that these mice will become the signature Pokémon of the next generation yet people are willing to take the risk."_

"_To be honest, I admire their risk taking. Sometimes you have to do it and…people that will do what it takes to win. It shows determination. It's part of the reason why I agreed to do this. It was a risk, but a good risk because we are doing this in the interest of James and getting him back where he belongs, or rather where he doesn't belong."_

"_Well…again I'm thankful that you are willing to take the risk and shoulder whatever burden comes with this operation."_

"_You're welcome, but don't even mention it. Let's just worry about James for now." A moment of silence passes. It seems that there are few other things to talk about in this situation but somehow, Ash finds a way. "Speaking of James; there is something I've always wanted to ask but never really got the mettle to do it over the years. He is part of that richest two percent that the politicians always talk about. His folks set up a girl that…looked remarkably like you for him to marry, but he didn't buy into the union. I've always seen him cross-dress without any objection and never placed him with any girls…with the possible exception of Gardenia."_

_Rolling her eyes after a while, Jessie decides to let the cat out of the bag. "Yes, Ash. He is gay."_

"_Should've known," he replies, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, I've got no problem with it. I just wondered, though. I encountered something quite interesting a year ago while out on the town with some buddies from out of town. It was my eighteenth birthday and…dad got them together so we could celebrate me becoming a man while at a topless bar. I was…very flattered when one of my good friends flirted with me while we was drunk. I felt for him, though. I just did not return the feelings, but I helped him get set up with a few other people on a LGBT dating site."_

"_Do you mind if I say that that is kind of fucked up?"_

"_You just did."_

"_And…I like to think that I know your dad. Hell, he was my boss for almost a decade! I never pegged him for being interested in that type of temptation. For all the times I saw him around the office, I didn't think that he'd be the partying type. I always thought he was the stern type and remained the stern type."_

"_The thing about that is that he is a businessman first," Ash explains. "His whole persona is about using psychology and intimidation to bring about the best or worst in an individual. He explained this to me when I had no idea he was Team Rocket's number one man. But…I suppose that he wanted to test me and see if I had what it took to stay at the top."_

"_But don't you think that's an odd way to teach a son or daughter a lesson?"_

"_Yeah, I do," he admits. "I—but it's just like I told you a few days ago. I will forgive people. That's not hard for me to do, but often times, it is also a matter of people forgiving themselves. Dad came to me…apparently right before he sold his Team Rocket stock to 'The Five', and admitted everything. He was getting older and didn't want any secrets between us that would affect our relationship later. You know, it's one of those scenarios where…I know my dad has not played as great a part in my life due to his work but the fact is he's here now and wants to make amends. I want to give him that chance. He explained it and I understand that he has a different way of showing his love than others. I respect that and…move on."_

_The more Jessie heard about Ash and his family the more she seemed to respect him than ever before in their lengthy history. In the past, he has been nothing short of a dense twerp. He has been a disturbance and one to never cower in the corner when times became tough. Something about that, for the longest time, just stood out. When they were younger, it was annoying but now it seems to form the basis for an attraction. Jessie respected the risk and the reasoning behind the risk Ash is taking here and in other areas. _

_It takes time but after a while, she has to admit, "That's very upstanding of you, Ash. I don't know if I could do the same with a parent of mine. Well, I really could not do that now because both of them are dead."_

"_I'm very sorry to hear that."_

"_Don't even worry about it. They've been dead since I was five years old. I hate to say I've gotten over it, but the memories I have of both of them are very fuzzy. Most of them were not great, either, because I grew up very poor. But I've chosen to keep that part of my past…in the past."_

"_Well, I don't think we have a choice right now about recollecting on your childhood," Ash interjects. "I see a couple vans coming this way."_

_Looking out from their hiding place of the multiple mailboxes, Jessie can see what her partner was just talking about as the white vans, which they knew would be a part of the operation, make their way to the Port Authority gate and stop by the guardhouse to open it up. While the initial driver of the van places his code into the system to unlock the barriers to the dock, Ash and Jessie run quickly to the side of the van and await the flag of the gate to come up. Once it does, they make a run for it away from the headlights of the other cars and out of the guard's eyesight._

_Seeing a container not too far away from the docks and not too far from the entrance, Jessie and Ash await the arrival of more vehicles inside of the docks. Over the next ten minutes, the time goes from five in the morning to just half past five. Several white vans park around the harbor along with a couple of eighteen-wheel semi trucks. Numerous people get out of these vehicles and see a flashing light arrive from the deck of a ship. Using signals back and forth to navigate the boat and confirm the people on the other side, they then gather for final instructions with the Commander standing in front of about sixty different operatives._

"_All right, crew, listen up!" says the Commander who has a bullhorn in his right hand and the nametag 'Rodman' over the left portion of his chest. "The _U.S.S. Montana_ is just minutes away from being anchored onto the harbor. From there, everyone in this troop knows their assignments. Our crane men, Anderson, Johns and Morgan…"_

_Jessie, who listens to every single word of the Commander, turns to Ash and tells him, "Morgan is James's last name. My theory of him being one of the crane operators was right."_

"_So to clarify," he whispers back to his partner, "I'm gonna move some product off the ship while you try to convince James to get out of the group, right?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Once you do your convincing job, either you or James will come to me and then we'll either go out the way we came in or we can use the crane ladders as a worst case scenario. Does that sound all right to you?"_

"_Yes. I don't see any problem with any of that. My only question is what we do now. We obviously can't just walk in there while the Commander is speaking. There would be no way for us to avoid causing some sort of scene!"_

"_I know," Ash responds. "Okay, I think that the best plan of action right now is to wait for the ship to anchor and then, naturally, the operatives will get to work and be all over the place trying to get the product into the trucks. So once they cross that bridge, I think we can go about the business at hand."_

_With her head slightly out from one side of the large container on the harbor, Jessie can see the light on the ship getting bigger and brighter. Whispering back to the young man sitting down on the ground, she lets him know, "The ship shouldn't be that much longer."_

_In actuality, there are several different clearance tests, hook ups and operations that the crew inside and outside of the boat must perform before any individual can go inside to move product from the ship to the trucks. Signing forms and opening several hatchways takes an additional half hour or so putting the time at about six o'clock in the morning before the group goes to their respective divisions and begins to unload the cargo from off the boat using pure manpower, dollies, fulcrum lifts and multiple individuals to a box. _

_Seeing this as their signal, Ash and Jessie make their way onto the open harbor with Ash going directly into a ship. Following the lead of most of the other operatives he walks to an area designated by arrows and takes a wooden box by both of his hands off the boat. In almost a caravan style, operatives walk down a hatch designed for them to go down and drop off the boxes inside of a large trailer for future delivery. The activity thoroughly disgusts him and the thought of drugs being inside of them which will be used in exchange for Pokémon also makes him sick to his stomach. His only solace for continuing this obscene act is that this trade will eventually not happen because the police will be called and James will leave the area, along with him and Jessie, for safer ground. _

_Meanwhile, as Ash follows the orders of his temporary 'superiors' and moves the materials, Jessie makes very quick checks of each of the cranes to find her good friend. On the third attempt to find James in the cranes, she sees him operating one. He bides his time and waits for operatives to place the steel chains around the container so that he can lift it up as this particular crane does not use magnets to move items._

"_Hey, friend," are the only words Jessie can think of at the moment as it pertains to convincing James to come with her._

_Turning around he could have been knocked down by a light breeze. The truth is that seeing his ex-partner at this moment brought about a great gust of memories inside the mind of James and caused him to neglect the operation of his crane even though the workers on the other side continue to work on securing the container. "Jessie? What the hell?" he asks, trying not to draw unneeded attention while working his position. "What are you doing here?"_

"_Look, I came here to save you from making a huge mistake," she explains. "I know…I know that this is not what you want to do with your life from here on out. I know that you can't possibly support these types of trades and I know that you can do so much better than what you are doing."_

"_I've heard this before," James sighs. "I just want you and all the other ex-operatives to know that…I need to find a purpose for me…"_

"_Bullshit, James! This is not the way to go about finding a purpose! You do not need to be an accomplice in trading Pokémon for drugs! Do you know the lengths people will go to in making sure that these deals go smoothly? They will kill people! This group doesn't give a fuck about you! They just want their money! Hell, they're willing to take living creatures and trade them for drugs. And I wonder…how many of these Pokémon are stolen as well. I mean, imagine; you've got your Chimecho at one of your mansions. You are a good person and no truly good person or any person with a slither of a heart can look at this situation and see it as even a cloud with a silver lining."_

"_Well…"_

"_You know not even considering the ramifications of if you ever get caught doing these things, think about the poor Pokémon involved that don't even get a say in the matter. I mean, imagine if we were talking about Chimecho or Mime Jr., or even your precious Growlithe. Would you want them to be one of the Pokémon to be caught up in this mess? As easily as it happened to one of the unfortunate ones in that van or that truck, it can happen to yours. We know that these organizations are ruthless and will stop at nothing to gain profit and power, which go hand in hand. We were there, James! We did it together for years. Can you honestly…_honestly _look at yourself in the mirror knowing that you've supported their policies by working for them? You stay here and there may not be much of a future for that purpose to take root! But if you leave here with my accomplice, we can find a purpose together. Just give yourself the time to think about that, but please don't take long."_

_Many great points have been raised. With Jessie playing to the sensitive side of James, she is able to open up a caring person who does show all the qualities necessary to change when the time is needed for such prompt actions. By bringing up his Pokémon from childhood and journeys from a much more recent time, she triggered James's memories and caused him to go into a great state of contemplation about the matter. While thinking about these issues, he lifts the large container from off the ship's deck and brings it high off the ground._

"_So?" Jessie asks him while he continues about his work._

_It is becoming slightly easier for her to see James as the sun is peeking through the clouds. Because of this she can see a tear or two coming out of his eyes. It would appear that a breakthrough has been made. "You're right. I can…"_

"_Jessie! The jig is up! We've been found out!" a voice yells. At that moment, a fervent amount of activity occurs as operatives look around for where the voice came from only to find a young man in an Avenue Five uniform running for his life from four officers who seek to discover his true identity. This action occurs much closer to the ship than where Jessie and James are at the moment. "We gotta get the crane ready and get out of here!"_

"_Okay," Jessie exclaims in response to Ash running towards his crane. "James, we have a plan to get out of here right now and not get hurt. See those buildings off to your left?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Well, move the crane over to that area and the three of us will climb up it and get the heck out of here." Now stepping out of the crane's control seat, she screams back to Ash, "Climb the moving crane! I convinced James to leave with us."_

"_Thank you!" he quickly answers. Seeing that he is still quite a distance away from the crane, he comes up with a plan to get him there quicker than running will. Reaching into his holster, he pulls out a Poké Ball and throws it. Inside this particular ball is his Bulbasaur who while holding his vines, Ash commands his Pokémon to vine whip him onto the crane. Given that he does not weigh that much, the task is not too difficult and the trainer gets jettisoned from his spot on the harbor to the crane and placing him at one of the triangular trusses which form the neck of the machinery._

"_Bulbasaur, return!" Ash commands, bringing one of his first Pokémon back into safe care. Looking just below him, he does see a lot of the operatives attempt to climb up the crane chassis. He holds them off by simply stepping on the hands of the operatives. All of this goes on while he does his best to make sure that his allies in this mission can get up to the top just like he has. Ash successfully pulls them both up to safety and notices the group now coming together to get these apparent defectors off of the crane and deal with them in due time. _

"_All right, let's climb!"_

"_Are you crazy, twerp?" James asks him, his first words to his former adversary. "Do you know if this thing will even hold us?"_

"_It's holding that container," he counters. "And that thing, I guarantee you, weighs several tons! We are feathers compared to that. Besides, I don't see any other way we can get out of here without them beating us to a pulp."_

"_I guess…"_

"_Come on, James!" Jessie encourages while Ash pulls out a phone from his holster and opens "There is no other way! You've set the crane up already! You know that this is the only way out!" Walking up to built in ladder on the crane, she pleads with her former partner to "Come on and climb!"_

"_Yes, police?" Ash calls as softly as he can. Considering the scenario of several angry Avenue Five officers wanting to tear him apart for posing as one of them, he does not blame them for feeling the way they do. "I'm reporting an incident on the South Harbor of Lilycove City's Port Authority." While relaying this information to the police, he does the unthinkable and begins to climb up the crane and to the container it is holding. "Several of 'The Five' are participating in a Poké-dope operation. Please hurry. All members should be considered armed and dangerous." After the call, he hangs up the phone letting it drop wherever it may and continues to climb with Jessie just above them and James bringing up the rear as he begins his ascent at the moment the phone call concludes. _

_A higher ranking official sees this happen and can only assume the worst. "Did you hear that?" asked one of the operations ensigns. "He called someone! I've got his phone! This might be a fuzzy operation! We gotta make sure they don't leave the port!"_

_While climbing, all three of them hear the word to keep them in the confines of the crime scene and climb quicker, even ignoring a fear of heights that one or two of the climbers might possess. To square something away while they have the time, Jessie poses a question to Ash, who is a few rungs below her on the crane. "How did they figure us out?"_

"_One of the operatives…" he recalls, "lost a lot of money on me some years back during the Ever Grande Conference. He gambled on the tournament and was very mad at the fact that I didn't beat Tyson that year and recognized me from that time."_

_Sighing while making her way up onto the container, the only woman in this group simply states, "Gambling sucks. I don't mind people who like to take risks, but that's going to the extreme. I remember that year. Tyson was damn near untouchable. At those numbers where some are going with betting these days, you're putting too much at risk."_

"_Like we're doing right now?" James asks about three quarters of the way up the crane while both Ash and Jessie have made their way up to the container._

"_Just worry about getting up here," Ash pleads with the older male. "If you really thought about the risk, there would be no way we would be able to get you up here to do this." Taking his hand, Ash brings James up to the top of the container more than 75 feet off the ground while operatives attempt to open the crane cabin and get to the controls. _

_Patting Jessie on the back, Ash makes the comment, "That was wise of you to lock the crane up. It'll be a while before they figure that one out considering that it's a different brand compared with the others." Examining their surroundings, buildings to the left of Ash are seen not that far away from the container they are standing on. "We'll just jump. I can't tell how far it is away from that building just past the gate."_

_Checking for himself, James makes the estimation of, "It can't be any more than ten feet," but at the moment of that hypothesis, the trio can hear the moving of metal; almost as if it is being thrown from one area to another. Looking down, perhaps James's worst fear comes true as The Five uses numerous crowbars to take the door off of its hinges and gain access to the controls._

_Ash sees this, but does not get flustered. "All right, never mind worrying about whether this is close enough. If they move this, we're all goners!" Speaking to the former partners, he tells them while heading to the opposite edge of the orange container, "Just go on a running start…like this!" and with that pep talk, he runs from the right edge of the container to the left, through thin air and onto the top of an abandoned building with a rolling start._

_Getting up from the roof, Ash explains "See? There's nothing to it! Now it's your turn!" Jessie really does not need any more convincing and gets the same running start as Ash did and lands on the roof without much effort needed on her part._

_When she gets up, she cautions James, "Quick! You don't have much time left!" And indeed, he does not as two crane operators work within the confines of the cabin to control the construction equipment. _

_Pressing one button, the container makes an abrupt move to the left and in the direction of the roof where Jessie and Ash stand. The maneuver causes James to fall from his upright position and to the edge of the container. It is clear that the operatives who entered the crane cabin are not as skilled with the machinery as its previous operator because they abruptly move the crane to the right while James tries to get up and make the jump. He cannot make the leap of faith; however, as the crane's quick move forces him off the trailer and down to the waiting hands of several operatives who cannot wait to get revenge against a bona fide traitor to their organization._

_The screams coming from James as he makes his descent are felt from the top of the building where Jessie and Ash watch in horror the terrible fall he makes down to the sea of operatives below. His screams can only be matched by Jessie who fears the worst for her friend._

"_Oh my God!" she exclaims while Ash looks down and sees a possible tragedy in the works. _

_Thinking about it he knows that something can be done, so Ash pulls out a Poké Ball once more, commanding "Bulbasaur, hurry! Grab onto James!" which he does before James can fall to a potential demise, but not without a great deal of struggle as several operatives grab onto James._

_Back and forth James goes from the Avenue Five members to Jessie and Ash over a hundred feet away. While all of this happens, a loud sound can be heard by everyone throughout the port. Seconds pass and there is no doubt what that noise off in the distance is. Combine it with lights and the sirens from numerous police cruisers light up the early morning day. _

"_It _is_ a fuzzy operation!" says one of the Colonels of the operation. "Commander Rodman, blow it up! There's nothing here for us to gain if the cops are coming! Five, scatter!" he screams before leaving the scene by jumping into the water._

'_Blow it up?' Ash wonders while coaching Bulbasaur to keep trying to pull James up toward them and to safety. And suddenly, all of the operatives of 'The Five' make their way off to other directions and away from James, including those who worked to pull James away from Ash's Pokémon. _

"_What are they doing?" Jessie inquires as Bulbasaur slowly pulls James up to him. It appears that he will be able to get to safety at last…until one of the semis brought to the harbor blows up. Directly in the middle of the trailer, an explosion with the force of multiple sonic booms spreads throughout the harbor with fire spewing in all directions. The force of the apparent bomb is enough to cause Bulbasaur to inadvertently drop James down to the ground with a sickening thud all in the span of less than five seconds._

"_Oh God, no! No!" Ash interjects. He knows that he has failed Jessie by allowing this tragedy to happen. Returning Bulbasaur to his Poké Ball for the second time, he looks down onto the harbor ground and sees the lifeless body of James on the floor. The sight makes him sick. The difference in this feeling though is that he does not throw up at the sight; rather he cries. "I'm sorry, Jessie. I fucked up. He couldn't have survived that. No way."_

"_Don't worry about it," she replies, shedding tears of her own given the circumstances. Seeing the very sad state of Ash, Jessie goes over to him and locks him up in an embrace, saying "I thank you for doing this, nonetheless. Not too many people would have sacrificed their training regimen and traveling to help someone…that wasn't a friend and was a real enemy for so long. You did your best, and…" seeing something down on the floor causes her to go silent for a second before "Oh my God. Ash!" comes from out of her mouth. _

"_I know," he replies. "It's awful."_

"_No! James is stirring! He's alive!" Getting a look down on the port, he cannot believe his eyes, but it is true that in the early morning hours there remains life in the body of one James Morgan. _

"_He's gotta be weak. The police coming will take good care of him, though."_

"_There they are! I see them!" Jessie exclaims. "And there's an ambulance, too! Oh, please be all right, my friend. They'll take care of him. He'll be okay, right?"_

"_Well…" Ash begins._

"_James!" she interrupts. "Please call back if you can hear me!"_

_Turning his head, even the slightest bit, causes a great deal of pain to encompass James. Nevertheless he can hear his good friend from the other block and responds with a weak call of "Jessie?" that he is not sure his friend could hear. _

_But she did hear it and told him, "You're gonna be okay, do you hear me? You're gonna be…"_

"_Retreat boys, retreat!" screams one of the Lilycove City officers as he comes out of one of the Avenue Five vans, saying, "There's another bomb in the van!"_

"_Wait! What about James? You can't leave him here! Not when there's a bomb!" Though yelling to the officers was well founded, the calls hung on death ear as all of them leave the port and go to safer areas._

_Expecting yet another explosion in a few seconds, Ash awaits for something monumental to occur. His wishes are thwarted, and no one would argue that that would not be a good thing. "Some warning," Ash sarcastically mentions. "And what of those guys that are supposed to be protecting us? They're supposed to be protecting people like James yet they leave him behind? What a bunch of bull. All right, then. Bulbasaur has earned his stripes this morning," he says, pulling out the Poké Ball of his grass pocket monster so he can bring James up to safety._

"_Poké Ball," Ash calls before a bright flash working in concert with a loud explosion shakes his foundation causing him to lose his footing and fall face first onto the roof floor. _

_And then everything goes black._

_END FLASHBACK_

Ash Ketchum, looking none the worse for wear, shoots up from a bed. He is sweating profusely and breathing quite heavily to boot. He seems surprised to not find any bumps or cuts on his face, head or body when he presses his hand to the various parts of his body covered by a thin hospital gown. Looking at his surroundings, he finds himself in a room completely painted in white with the bed he is sitting up on the only thing inside…until he looks behind himself.

A man, he presumes, adorned with a black cloak, holding a scythe in his right hand and standing by a white door does a motion signaling the young man to come here.

Shaking his head, he cannot believe his fate. After so many scrapes and flirtations with death, he thought that he escaped such demise until much later. He thought he had the great fortune of many housecats, but one scrape with a newfound enemy wearing the colors he thought belonged to a friend has led him to this place. But does it mean what he read or heard of many times before? Would this be the end for him?

"The…the Grim Reaper?" he asks the figure, who bows in response to the sound of his name.

"I…thought I'd get out of this," Ash admits. "No one else knows that May Maple gave me my coma and put me in this place. I saw her swing the baseball bat from the reflection on my car. If I can go back, she can get what she deserves. I love her as a good friend, but she did this to me and now she has to pay."

Initially, speaking to this mysterious figure is a lot like talking directly to a wall made of brick. He says absolutely nothing and Ash does not have much else to say with the exception of a very important question on his mind. "But…I'm still fighting it, right? I mean, I'm not dead right now, am I? I'm hurt badly, I'm pretty sure that's the case, but…this isn't the end, right? It can't be. There's so much that I'll miss…and so many people that will miss me for that matter. I'm supposed to get married soon…but I have a shaky feeling that you already know that. I succeeded in finding James for Jessie and finishing _that_ job, but…I always had a feeling that there would be more work for me to do before this time came, you know?"

No sound, not even the indication of a voice, comes from the figure standing just in front of the door. The only action made by this thing claiming to be the Grim Reaper is either a walking or floating motion towards the doorknob where he opens it completely and points his scythe towards the opening, nodding his head one time.

Putting his head down, Ash understands his fate now more than ever. There is no other way out of this room with the exception of giving up his life. Ah, the miracles of free trade, especially when it nothing is free about it. No other doors must mean that there are no other options. 'May gave it to me real well,' he thinks as he stands up and stares a hole into the overseer of travel to the other side.

"I just have one more question. Nothing can stop this at all?" he asks.

And then, to Ash's surprise, a chuckle comes out of the reaper and then a deep voice, wondering, "Why would you want to stop this?"

Afterwards, Ash just shrugs his shoulders concluding that the words of this being make a great amount of sense. Looking outside the door, he takes a deep breath before walking with one foot in front of the other to his eventual fate before his entire body is out of the white room and off into the distance.

Checking his surroundings, he does not recognize anything around him and starts to get a bit concerned. He thought he would have to head to a white light at the end of a tunnel or have his spirit somehow depart his body, ending the life of Ash Ketchum. Instead, he finds himself in yet another white room with bright lights shining above him. "Wait a minute," he says. "This doesn't look right," and at that moment, the door behind him gets closed and locked by the one claiming to be the Grim Reaper. Afterwards, the figure known as the personification of death appears to dissolve in thin air.

This door has been closed, but another one is sure to open somewhere else along the way; so goes the saying.

* * *

A/N: See you in six to eight months, guys, and many thanks goes out to **ReaderADV** for being the Beta Reader for portions of this extensive chapter!

Until then, this has been Rave The Rich!


	24. Human Game of Chess, Part 1 of 2

A Confession Gone Awry (Season Three Premiere)

To recap the events of chapters twenty-two and twenty-three, Max reveals that his girlfriend is actually Misty Waterflower, a woman eight years his senior. He also reveals the fact that the two of them are having a child. Caroline does not approve; in fact, she slapped Misty in the face for having sex with her son despite him going great lengths to make sure that his girlfriend recovered from alcohol problems and getting over Ash Ketchum being romantically involved with his once sworn enemy, Jessie.

The family makes initial plans for Misty and Max where Max would either take over the Petalburg Gym or the Cerulean City Gym with the ultimate objective being that neither of the parents to be is far apart from one another. They agree with that and then the subject of May comes into play when Drew admits that the two of them have broken up. May then progressively admits to cheating on Drew, being sexually active with someone else for six years and that this someone else is another girl when she tells her parents that she is gay. Norman is furious and calls her daughter an embarrassment, but Caroline doesn't think so, feeling that her son and daughter have both made mistakes and while she's not a fan of homosexuality by any stretch, she does support her daughter no matter what. Norman leaves the room in frustration, although he and Caroline do agree to meet with Kelly some time later. Kelly and May talk later that day about when she will come over to Petalburg to meet her folks and about how important it is, even though Drew wants nothing to do with her anymore, to keep the secret of Ryan's rape iron clad.

Kenny meets an eleven-year-old girl in Rustboro City named Slim Sam, a product of organized crime and an expert on fraud and falsification. Underneath the legitimate guise of providing checks and cash services for clients, her family puts the foul-mouthed, tomboyish girl to work, preparing operatives for whatever may come their way. Kenny, determined to get at Dawn, seeks to have a whole new identity formed for him, and he does, getting blessed with the new alias Daniel Morgan and told to go to a bus station to find the quickest way to Twinleaf Town.

Forrest meets the tandem of Brock and James in a six-on-six battle for bragging rights and acceptance. The battle went down to the wire, but was eventually won by Brock and James with Swampert over Forrest's Rhyperior. Afterwards, as the official gym leader of Pewter City, Forrest asks if James would be interested in a position as referee for the gym and as deputy gym leader, which he gladly accepts.

Ash relives events that formed the catalyst for feelings for his fiancée, Jessie. Working with her in an attempt to find James and get him out of Avenue Five and to safety, the two stay in a hotel room together in Lilycove City for a period of five days. Working with laptops, navigational systems and online websites, they are able to pinpoint where the Five would be in their next pickup in a drug-for-Pokémon trade. Early in the morning before the sunrise, Jessie and Ash await for a group of the Five to come over to the Lilycove City ports. James is part of the group and his job is to use cranes to move containers from the incoming ship to the harbor. James gets rescued multiple times by Ash, Jessie and Bulbasaur, but not without being found out by the other 'Five' members.

Ash wakes up from his dream after the part where two bombs were placed inside of Avenue Five vans and detonated, flailing James back into a fiery harbor and knocking out Ash while on top of a nearby building. From there, Ash runs into who he thought was the Grim Reaper leading him to his ultimate fate. While he enters a door, leading to what he thought was the light at the end of the tunnel, he senses something wrong, but before anything can be done about it, the door is shut behind him while this impostor spirit disappears.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 24- Human Game of Chess, Part 1 of 2)

* * *

Quiet. It is so quiet, yet no one and nothing seems to be bothering anyone out here, that is if anyone can be found. Out here where it is barren, flat, dull and limitless, it also appears to be empty like a wallet on the day before payday or a cookie jar left to the care of young children. While imagination seems to stretch as far as the eye can see, reality is not supposed to have that kind of effect as well.

But here is Ash Ketchum, hospital gown and nothing else, attempting to find something, anything, to get back home by doing what his journey has often been defined by; lots and lots of walking. All jokes about Dorothy, Oz, twisters and the state of Kansas aside, it was about an hour or so ago that the world class Pokémon trainer thought that he got a visit from the personification of death himself, but as he was led inside of a door which he thought was leading to his fate, he sensed something not being legitimate concerning this presence of the one claiming to be the Grim Reaper.

Flash forward two hours and Ash finds himself continuing his walk along a black and white road smooth like a pavement while bare footed and continuing a search for something out there that can be discerned amongst the dry, but cool ambience. "Who in the world did I run into back there?" It's a question that he's silently been asking himself ever since going outside of the white room, but this marks the first time that he's said such words out loud.

Then, out of nowhere, what was a very bright area suddenly becomes clouded with shadows. Ash looks around for some reason for this change in brightness, but can only find the shadow becoming larger and larger by the millisecond. From there, Ash recollects only being tackled to the ground as a large castle-like statue comes down on the same white spot where he was just standing.

Looking over to where it could have truly been the end for him, the trainer can only count himself as being lucky once more. Looking off to his side, he notices the person, for lack of a better term, that saved him from certain harm. He is a short-haired blond who appears to be in his late 20s or early 30s and is wearing a beige trench coat which is quite wrinkled and worn from age. The thing that stands out most in the mind of Ash is this person's sunglasses, which seem to wrap around his face similar to the VISOR apparatus of Geordi La Forge in _The Next Generation_. In this style, he has not been able to get a good look at the proclaimed windows into the soul and likely won't be able to do such a thing.

Getting up and then helping this individual up to his feet, Ash says, "Thank you…whoever you are. I could have been a goner back there."

"What's to say that you aren't still gonna be a goner?" he counters. Not a 'you're welcome', a response letting Ash know what his name is or anything of that sort. It's as if such rhetoric was irrelevant to whoever this person is.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said," he responds, dusting himself off. "It's not often that we really get as many cases like yours where it's imperative that we do our best to keep the person alive until they resurface. With you being the explorer that you are and the curious mind that you are, it's clear that we will have to keep an eye on you until you realize what it will take to get out of your situation."

"Whoa! Wait a minute. Wait one damn minute, okay?" he pleads with this person before he says another word, confusing him even more than he already is. Now putting his left and right hand into the shape of a 'T', Ash wants him to, "Start over from the beginning, if you will. First off, I thank you for saving me back there."

After a pause lasting a few noticeable seconds, the person standing across from Ash replies, "You're welcome."

"Now, if we could establish something here from the get go, it would be great. I doubt we can do that, though, if I don't even know what your name is."

Nodding his head, this being says, "Of course. I must have gotten carried away hearing all about you from my superiors. My name is…Neewteb-Ni."

"Neew…teb-Ni?" Ash asks, hoping to get the pronunciation down pat.

"That sounds about right."

"Okay, now I have some questions about you. What are you doing here right now while I'm in this coma, how do you know so much about me as you claim, and what do I have to do to get back to the real world?"

Shaking his head for just a bit while smiling at the thought of what lies ahead for him; Neewteb-Ni does his best to explain how things work in what is, by all accounts, his world. "Ash, oh Ash. You have so much to learn about this place. Look, questions like my name are ones that I have no problem getting because you have the right to know them. But as far as those other ones that you asked me, well…I'll just say that you have the answer to most of your questions already. You just need to take a deep look inside of yourself and realize that much of this is your mess. Yes, people around you are psychotic and did more than what they should have to handle their issues, but I'm sure your mother told you that two wrongs never make a right…right?"

"Hey, look!" Ash says, "I really don't know where you get off thinking that you can somehow bring my mother into this mess without thinking that you'll be hearing from pissed-off Ash Ketchum. You say I have all the answers, but for the last couple of hours, I've been wandering this…place, trying to find someone after someone who I thought was the Grim Reaper fooled me into going through some sort of door."

"And you put your trust in him?"

"I didn't know I had a choice in the matter, Neewteb-Ni! I mean to think that we all got the chance to choose the day that we die? That's ludicrous! People would say never and then we'd have this world overpopulated with people living to be the age of turtles and moving just as slowly."

"Okay, that's fair enough. The fact is, and you might already know this, that was not the Grim Reaper that you ran across. That was a real prankster from your family's past who came back to send you to me."

"Prankster from my family's past?" Ash questions. Not really knowing where to begin with that kind of clue, he ends up just scratching his head. "I can only think about my mother's dad who my mom always said was a practical joker, but I never knew him!"

"But he knew you."

"Are you saying that that was my…grandfather who led me here to you? Was that the person who ended up sending me here and said that he was the Reaper?"

"Yeah, he did want to see you at least once before your permanent transition to the next world."

"Okay, then. That wasn't so hard. My grandfather wanted to see me. I learned the hard way that he pulled a prank on me and had me thinking that I was somehow gonna have to meet my maker and cross over to the other side. In reality, he was specifically placed here to lead me to this field of…black and white squares. There are thousands of them, Neewteb-Ni! I feel like I'm on several unending chess boards."

'He's coming along slowly but surely,' Neewteb-Ni silently remarks. "And they called you dense? I don't think you're as bad as they claim."

"Dude, I don't know you," Ash remarks, frustrated that while Neewteb-Ni appears to have all the answers and the life history of this comatose patient, Ash is left with more and more questions like, "Are you trying to say that I'm dense?"

"No, not necessarily," he clarifies. "After all, you did figure out where you are right now, although that might have been either by instinct or by accident. You're standing on a giant chess board and if you realize, understand and accept your surroundings and tell me why you are here, you will be able to go back up to see Delia, Jessie, Gary; all the people that you care for so much."

"Okay, good!" Ash is somewhat satisfied to know where he is, even if the goal of getting out of his current rut remains a seemingly unreachable task. "Then all I really need to know at this point is what does a chess board have to do with me getting back to my family and friends safely?"

"If you want to know that information, then you have to know all about the human game," Neewteb-Ni explains. "The human game, in its purest form, is an attention grabber and a captivator unlike any other that is known or unknown. While people can look at chess and find it to be a great brain exercise or a complete and total bore, people watch the game and understand the…game within the game. We, the thinkers and the innovators find this to be among the greatest of treats as we watch the back and forth of chess pieces and know it to be a true and immaculate allegory of good versus evil."

"Well…maybe," Ash remarks, although he's finding it difficult to follow the words of Neewteb-Ni verbatim, "but what about all of the people who just think it's a game?"

"They're missing out. They don't understand the relationships that they have with the pieces and how it makes for great theatre, especially when the game comes down to a few key moves, just like this knight here." Pointing to a white, horse-shaped piece that is now near or around the center of the board, Neewteb-Ni explains, "This knight over here has gone through many different challenges in his life. At one point, he thought that power was the ultimate key to being a man and to beating all of the enemies before him in the field of battle. His brother was another expert in the craft. He was a lot like you and still thinks of you to this day because of the traits you shared. The relationship between brother and brother, one which you've never had in your days, is one that's seen its share of difficulties, but being the people that they are inside and the tradition of battling that they've shown on the outside, they've found one another and it's as if they are reliving their childhood dreams one trainer to another, this time in different fields of play."

"Neewteb-Ni, please," Ash says, shaking his head, both in confusion and disgust. "They are just game pieces. Anyone who looks at them can see this, but you're talking about them as if these are people which I know personally."

"If you look harder," he argues, "you'll know that I'm making a point here and that I _am_ talking about people that you know. You just have to look beyond the fact that I told you that this white knight is a person. If I did nothing but said that they were people in your life and chess pieces had nothing to do with it, then you'd already know who I'm talking about; I'm all but sure of this."

"Neewteb-Ni…"

"Just look at the knight again, but this time look harder," he says, thinking of any way possible he can figure out how to gain Ash's trust and not make him think that he's some sort of loony guy in a world that seems to live up to a similar notion.

Not really knowing any other course of action to take in this unfamiliar, strange world, Ash takes his chances and takes a closer look at the black knight in the middle of the playing field. It takes just a few seconds, but an image begins to clear in the center of the giant chess piece, showing a young man sitting by a desk with several stacks of paper around him as he starts jotting down information on each page with a pen in his right hand.

Neewteb-Ni was not lying when he said that Ash knew this person. Aside from just knowing who he was, he waged what amounted to young man-on-young man Civil War with him for years in different cities and regions. Then, without much warning, he went away. He no longer trained, competed or had much else to do with Pokémon again. It was as if he disappeared from the face of the earth. Now, Ash sees him and cannot believe that he's actually watching his former rival push paper in what appears to be a police station.

"That's Paul," Ash simply speaks.

"Yep," Neewteb-Ni confirms.

Turning around to face this apparent overseer of the middle road of life, Ash says again, "That's Paul! It's really Paul!"

"Why don't you get a closer look at him now, Ash. See what has become of his life since he decided to become honest with himself and the people closest to him."

Ash does it, not really one to ever turn down a challenge, whether comatose or otherwise, from anyone, though he is not really sure how honesty plays a part in the story of his former rival. As he stares into the knight which holds the picture he's shown of his once rival, he really doesn't see much. Writing down forms and files has never been the calling of Ash and Ash never really thought that it was the calling for Paul, but no matter his feelings on the matter, it appears that whatever the forms and documents are about, that the Veilstone City native doesn't really mind the tedious motion of form after form being read and reviewed.

The one getting a view of Paul like a fly on the wall would think that since Paul does appear to be a police officer, with uniform and everything to boot, that he would be doing something far more exciting than what he is up to at the moment. Though, as a few wise people once told him, there is always an unglamorous side to any profession. While the travel is nice, it can still be unpredictable and finding paparazzi in the woods is something that the trainer will never be able to get over, no matter how long he continues in his trade. Ash gathers that for Paul, this would be that very unglamorous end of police work.

Suddenly, someone comes from a door leading into and out of his small office. This person, a short woman with long curly brown hair, a yellowish complexion and a thin coating of red makeup drops several additional files into the lap of Paul informing him that he has to finish all of them by the end of business.

Sighing, but not really griping about the added workload, Paul says, "Thank you, Annette. Is there anything else that you wish to drop onto my plate before you leave?"

"Actually, there is," she says, while reaching into her pants pocket and pulling out a note which she unfolds and reads to the violet haired rookie officer. "Your brother, Reggie, called. He made reservations to that new fondue restaurant just off the boardwalk. And Koji said that he would be able to make it, too, though he did take on a couple of extra hours at the ER due to patient counts being higher than normal."

"He cares too much for his own damn good," Paul laments momentarily. "No problem. He's always getting overtime there at the hospital because someone decided to shirk their responsibility, a nurse had a sudden overdose on prescription pills or someone got stuck in traffic."

"Maybe that's the reason why you're with him, had you ever thought about that, Warrick?"

"At least fifteen times a day, Annette, but usually twenty."

Ash could not believe what he heard, or at least thought he heard. "Wait a minute? 'With him?' Does that mean that Paul is…gay?"

"Yes," Neewteb-Ni answers. "For about as long as you've known him, he's known this."

"He…wow, I never would have thought—you know what? It's fine. It doesn't matter to me, because I'm still not good at spotting these hints, you know? In a world where people can be who they want to be, more or less, and not catch hell for it or lose it over pettiness, it's all good. If Paul wants to be with this…Koji person, why stand in his way or stop him from doing it? He seems happy there, to me."

"Oh, he is. And the fact that he can be open and honest with people about what he's doing is the best. Paul is an open book, Ash. We all could take a few lessons from Paul. Maybe he didn't get everything he wanted in life, in training or that other stuff, but you know something, he does have his sanity, his happiness and his family. That's more than what I can say for some trainers out there."

"Hey now, you know the situation that got me here facing this large chess board and speaking to you about the symbolism that goes on between pawns, knights and queens. Yeah, seeing Paul after all these years was very nice, but I don't see how Paul can help me get out of here and get back home."

"Then we really have a lot of work to do," Neewteb-Ni admits. "Think about it. The scarecrow couldn't go any higher because of no brain. The tin man lacked heart, but not compassion and the cowardly lion just needed to forget that even with courage, you can still be scared. All of them, with their imperfections and flaws were able to get to the next level and like I told you, Ash, you already have the answer to all of your questions. So what's your excuse?"

"I told you, May Maple. May Maple bludgeoning me with a fucking baseball bat attempting to scramble my brains sounds like it would be a complete enough answer to all of my questions, right? Had that not happened, I may very well be back up and beginning plans for my wedding to Jessie right now."

'Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me,' Neewteb-Ni thinks. 'I can even be wrong sometimes, it seems. Not only did I get the densest of them all, I also got the one who apparently has an ego the size of Saturn, rings included. I do have to take care of this, though. He just has to admit to himself that he is the reason why he's in a coma or he'll never leave. He'll just be stuck in the middle…kind of like my destiny. If my name is any indication, that is.'

While deeply rooted in his current thoughts, the being decides to shake them off in favor of guiding Ash to where he should be going. "Look, Ash. I'm gonna say this again and hope that you understand what I'm trying to tell you. You are _never_ gonna get the answers to your questions if you act the way you're acting right now. You must be able to pinpoint exactly what led to your fate. When that happens, you will see things change for you. Until then, you will have no such luck."

"No such luck, you say," Ash throws back at Neewteb-Ni. "No such luck. I didn't have such luck when I got my brains beaten in by an Amazonian steroid freak, did I?"

"Well, no. But you've got to understand…"

"No, what the hell is there to under—shit! Hit the deck!" Ash exclaims as another chess piece comes near him, eliminating a white piece on the board. This time, he sees that the black queen, the most powerful of pieces, has eliminated one of the white bishops from play. Ash notices this and thinks that since he got answers from Neewteb-Ni by using the board, its pieces and many maneuvers, that the strategy can be put to the test here and now. "Hey, Neewteb-Ni. I just noticed the queen here taking out the bishop. What's the deal behind that?"

Somewhat shocked that Ash caught onto what would be the main solution to his problems, Neewteb-Ni got caught off guard, but only for a moment and then that moment gave away to an answer. "Well, there is a couple out there on the board that really does wield a lot of control. I'm talking about more power than you and I could imagine, but all of us do eventually have to answer to someone as you're learning with me. I must say that this union of sorts does involve May, who has kept a secret for a very long time and held it from the white bishop, even while he knew that someone in his life had been gravely hurt and the damage was permanent. The story, bottom line, is a sad one, but one that if unraveled, will cause even more tragedy."

"How tragic are we talking about?"

Neewteb-Ni only has to say the words "Rape was involved and murder _can be_ involved," but combined with that is the arrogance and the ego of the two girls who are behind the scandal. "The white bishop may very well get back into the game. He'll think he won't have a choice in the matter, but…I don't see _how_ this can possibly be good for either of these three."

Catching a few more clues in Neewteb-Ni's speech, Ash remembers him talking about a 'couple' on the board. Given that the black queen did eliminate the white bishop and is now around the middle of the board, he searches the area once again, and sees that the black king is around the other end of the board, having only moved a few steps in the game, as is customary of the king. "I get the feeling that both the queen and the king are far away from one another right now."

"You _are _catching on, Ash, even if it's bit by bit," Neewteb-Ni answers, impressed at the fact that he got that particular bit of information. "Despite the fact that they aren't together in the same place, they remain powerful, controlling others through their influence and causing strife between brother and sister, husband and wife and…yes, even you are affected by this union of no good intentions. Watch the queen carefully, Ash. Meet this super couple that not even the tabloids can touch in terms of potency."

Taking heed of the words of this guide of sorts, Ash is on it once again as he takes a hard look deep into the chess piece to see of all things, May Maple in bed. The same person who attempted to kill him two days ago is not sleeping, but on her cell phone while waiting for someone to answer her phone call.

"Please pick up, girl," May speaks into the receiver. "You know you have to keep on paying me back, after all for your shit."

"Hello, sweetheart."

"Hello, Kelly."

Ash has to use his hands to keep his eyebrows from flying off of his face. He had no clue about it, but it appears that more than one of his former acquaintances and associates plays for the other team. "Wow."

"Let me guess. You had no idea."

"None whatsoever!" Going with his gut on this decision, Ash looks behind him and sees the black king. On that hunch, he sees that it is indeed Kelly, who is lying down on her bed just like May while wearing a purple robe. "They did spend a lot of time together, the more I think about it. I guess the thought never came to mind because…of Drew."

Then, it occurred to him. With May being the queen of the board and Kelly serving in the role of the king, that left Drew, who has been synonymous with May for the past several years, on his own. Looking off to the sidelines, he wants to see if Drew is indeed the bishop that was just eliminated from the field of play.

"Hang on a second, Ash," Neewteb-Ni speaks, "that is, of course, if you want to miss this show that's going on right now."

"Show?" he questions before taking a look back over at the black queen and seeing just what the middle man was referring to. Apparently, the conversation between May and Kelly has made a turn for the erotic, as May, who is wearing a very short pair of shorts to bed, has her left hand down there and is wiggling it around as if to jiggle a switch within her to set her off and arouse her. Going back and forth between the king and the queen and one can hear the dialogue between the two and its graphic and profane nature are quite clear.

"Jam 'em in there, whore! I know you like it. This is what you get for doubting me, you understand?" she questions the girl on the other end, practically screaming at Kelly for her behavior over the past two days. "Who will you fuck wildly on Monday night when you see her?"

On the other end of the line, Kelly goes wireless and hands free with her phone sex; just the way she likes it with a headset so as not to wake anyone in the house, including Solidad. While free of having to hold a receiver for much of this conversation, Kelly decides to break out her toy chest and look inside for something to make this experience as close to the real thing as she can. Inside, she gets her favorite toy for such occasions where she just needs to get off as quick as she possibly can. It's a high-pulsating vibrator which serves her well, especially right before a board meeting or anytime where she needs to relieve some stress. "I'm fucking you," she says in between panting and gasping for her breaths. "Ohh, yes. I can see it now. You want me to bring the strap on with me, right?"

"If you don't, I will make you bleed, bitch," May counters while she puts three fingers into her already warm treasure while her anger with Kelly continues to remain prevalent in this scene. "In fact, when you get here, I do want you to bleed, no matter what. You understand? What do you get for doubting me, Kelly?"

Continuing to gasp for air, she finds it within her to answer, "I get punished. I'm sorry, May, but I've never come out to the world before. Oh, I'm close, May! Shit!"

"Well, I don't want it to happen again. That is unless, of course, you _want_ me to hold that secret above Drew's head."

"Not if you want your part in the matter to be known, you will. I tell you that much right here and now," Kelly counters. "Now shut the fuck up. You're killing my mood."

"_Our _mood, Kelly. Our mood."

Nearly disgusted to the point where he thought that he would have to reach for the nearest trash can, Ash instead takes a second and asks the being alongside him, "Is that your idea of a show?"

"Sometimes it is," he honestly admits. "Even though I may look human, I'm not. Despite that, I am a male and that which we cannot have is most appealing to us, do you agree?"

"Not when it's someone who attacks you at the core and seeks to make your life on earth a living hell," Ash admits. "I mean, I'm sure this has its audience, but that doesn't include me, I guarantee you that. Maybe Zoey and Dawn based on the events from the Grand Festival final, but not the person who plans on killing you. Never!"

"Okay, fair enough. I would understand not really wanting to see someone who wished death upon you in the throngs of sexual pleasure, even if it is over the phone."

"Yeah, I think there are some humane rules that come in play with that, don't you think?"

"Again, I'm not human. I can't be too sure."

Not really ignoring Neewteb-Ni's response there, Ash politely tells him "I don't wanna watch this anymore. I'd rather know what's up with Drew, because if Kelly and May represent the king and the queen of this side of the board, then that means that their relationship is a long-standing one that is apparently worthy enough to even be considered for such titles. But just as I thought, that would leave Drew out of the picture. And if I am right about this, the fact that he just got taken out of the field of play doesn't necessarily mean he no longer factors, but just that he's no longer a part of May's life. They've broken up!"

Ash quickly looks off to the side and looks deeply within the just-eliminated bishop just as he did the previous pieces. For this view, he sees a car driving very fast on the freeway and well over any self-respecting speed limit posted by the highway administration. Inside of the green Toyota Prius, the young man driving at speeds approaching the triple digits is doing his best to keep calm while out on the road, but finds it difficult, especially given the fact that everything he does and everywhere he goes seems to remind him of his now ex-girlfriend.

The feelings really suck and driving as he has for the past couple of hours back to his home in LaRousse City hasn't helped matters much. While he can try all he wants to eradicate May Maple from his mind, it's not an easy task. Ten years knowing someone quite well and nearly six years being with someone seriously can never be simple to get over or get past, but Drew knows that he has to, no matter how painful it can be.

Ash, looking as if from up above like a Greek or Roman god, sees this happen from many different perspectives, including high up like he was in a helicopter. From this view, he gets the sense that Drew should not be driving at all. While nothing dangerous has happened at the moment, he is taking a lot of liberties behind the wheel. In some instances, he has not signaled when he changed a lane, not to mention the high speeds which get you around in the state of California normally, but aren't as commonplace in the Hoenn region.

"Drew, pull over," he speaks. "You're in no condition to drive, man! Just take a break and let it all out if you have to. I understand you're upset. Just take a few deep breaths and you'll be okay."

"Uhh, this is worse than _It's a Wonderful Life_. At least George Bailey wasn't this dense…at least, I think."

"Uh, Neewteb-Ni. You know that I can hear you right now, right?"

"Well, you do know that Drew can't hear you at all, no matter how loud you speak, _right_? You are right, though. He shouldn't be driving while heartbroken. In some places, that might count as a second degree DWI, but would anyone blame him? The poor guy just got crushed a few hours ago by his girlfriend. He got told that not only has she been intimate with another girl, but that his girlfriend fell out of love with him. Hell, that's not something that I'd wish on anyone, enemy or not. You, well…that's a different story, I suppose, because it _does_ involve your worst enemy."

"I'm gonna just…not really comment on that because it's just…I don't know everything that went down, so for me to take a clear position on that would be hasty. I—you know how I feel about May, but this just really is messed up, no matter how you slice it."

"I'm glad that we can come to some sort of an agreement as far as that's concerned. Oh, wait! Look at this! I think Drew might be pulling over."

"You're kidding!" Ash exclaims looking back over to the white bishop and seeing that Drew has indeed slowed down considerably and pulled his car over to the left side of the road slowing it down to a stop. "I think that's good. He looked like he was trying to hold it in as long as he could out there. He'll be okay, right?"

"It's hard to say, Ash," Neewteb-Ni honestly answers. "Right now, he is out of it, but getting back to form is what's most important for Drew." As the car is stopped by a freeway overpass and the ignition is switched in the 'off' position, Drew can no longer keep it inside any longer. No one can see him, at least, that's what he believes, so he brings his head down and allows the tears to roll down like waterfalls wetting his face more and more by the second.

He's now bawling much like he did earlier today when the hard truth was exposed to him in the worst way possible. "I hate this," Drew admits while crying in a combination of shame, frustration and the fact that he's completely heartbroken. "I just hate all of this so much. Why couldn't May be honest with me, for god's sake? Why'd she have to drag this out and make me look like a damn fool for so long? Oh, this just isn't right. Why am I…I don't even…what do I do, now? What the hell do I do now? She's just about all I've known for the past ten years. I sacrificed so much. I changed myself for the better. I reformed who I was so that she'd see who I am and it's all for nothing. It didn't add up to a fucking hill of beans."

"Drew, you have to pick yourself up! It's not like it's the end of the world, man! Come on!"

"How many times to I have to tell you; Drew can't…"

"Yeah, I know," Ash responds, very annoyed at the spirit being. "He can't hear me. I'm really past the point of caring right now, Neewteb-Ni. I'm his friend before anything else and I respect the hell out of him and know that he is much better than this. So whether Drew can hear me or not is irrelevant in my mind, thank you very much. He has to hear himself. It's not of him to want to mope, bitch and feel sorry or sad for himself. That's just not the Drew that I knew for so many years. He helped me when I was down at times, and I think I owe him that same measure of friendship. One time, he told me something that I still use today. 'When times are down, just brush yourself off.' Where's that advice, now? Why in the world isn't he taking it when he knows how well it worked for me?"

"Yeah, it's hard to take your own medicine sometimes, you know? It's easy to give advice to others," Neewteb-Ni speaks. "All that requires is you knowing how to open your mouth and get sounds to come out of it. But when your advice fails you, what are you left with in the end? Broken promises, broken dreams and, in your case, a broken head. Ah, the gambles that we take in this life; they can be a real bear."

The fiery temper and disposition of Ash is starting to rise like the Phoenix from the ashes. He gets directly in the face of the moderator and lets him know this once more. Putting a finger in the area where his eyes should be, he gives Neewteb-Ni more than just the business. "Look, you keep spewing these innuendos and talking out of both ends of your mouth thinking that because I might not always be on the ball when it comes to figuring out these riddles and clues that I'm somehow stupid."

"I never said you were stupid," he responds, going on the defensive for one of the first times since coming across Ash. "Like I've said, you really don't need me here to get back home. You have all the answers, your pride just won't let them come out."

Ash is defiant, but then again, what is new? He turns away from the guardian of the middle-area as a means of informing him that his words are not affecting him, even though he knows that that is not the case. "You can't face Delia knowing what you did. What about Jessie, and her feelings on the matter? It's clear, Ash. You are scared to admit what you are."

"What I've _done_, Neewteb-Ni," Ash corrects, still refusing to face him at this moment. "It's not about what I am, but what I do, or rather, did."

"But don't you agree that what you do does end up defining you on Judgment Day? This is a problem that people struggle with every day. Why, with all the evidence and proof in front of you to show that this is the reason for you being in a coma, you won't even admit it is beyond me." With Ash not reacting to the moral speech from the being, he attempts to be reassuring and not push or press the young man before him making it seem as if he has to feel some form of shame. "You don't have to feel embarrassed at this. It's not as if you've blown your career earnings or you've started to take from family and friends to fuel your habit, but the first step is always to just admit that you have a problem."

Turning around to make his point to this apparent moral compass, Ash restates his feelings on the matter and affirms, "Well, not me because I don't have a problem to admit!"

"It nearly killed you, damn it!" Neewteb-Ni screams. "Why won't you admit it? Will it take another pissed off kid who lost all that he or she worked for over the past several years for it to get into your bashed-in skull? Is it gonna have to be your mother or your fiancée figuring this out and sending you into rehab because of all that you've lost? They've gotten a clue or two along the way. They don't know it, but another one is coming, man! Is it gonna be your friend denouncing you for putting all of your eggs into her basket or influencing the judges when you said you didn't think May won the Grand Festival when you knew that a sixty-five million dollar windfall was coming your way if the results went in that direction? Something has to give, man! I can only do so much. I'm a guide. I can lead you to doing what you want, but you have free will…and you're using it much to my chagrin."

"Are you done? Really, is that all I'm gonna hear from you aside from getting all of these glimpses into the lives of these people?"

"Once more, I am a guide, Ash. Everyone that you've seen here since being on the chess board has been placed here in an effort for you to change your ways and confess all of your sins before your time ends. It could end tomorrow…or it could end 100 years from now. I don't know that. I really don't. What I do know is that your stubbornness is keeping you from going further then you could be going right now. You could be up and out of the coma by now, but you still want to hold onto whatever shred of dignity you have left. Your friends know this same feeling, and so do their friends, of keeping secrets for fear of people's reactions. But you can't care about that as far as you can throw it, man. You'll end up the better for it in the long run. Don't believe me; look at that black knight over there."

Ash, not knowing anything else that he could do in this situation and feeling that he hasn't gotten any closer to getting out of his current rut, decides to bite and looks over at yet another piece on the board. This time, it's off to the corner and away from many of the other chess pieces which appear to be out on their own destinations right now.

Taking the same steps he did in searching deep within the other pieces to find the people of his past and view their lives at the moment are the ones he took with this knight. Searching, he finds the picture to be somewhat blurry, but clearing little by little. The picture he got is unlike any other. This one is in a storefront where there appears to be very few cars. Ash reads the title on the front of the building and gets the feeling he knows why this is the case.

"Bear Arms- Registered…Dealers? Neewteb-Ni, That's a weapons store!"

"Very good, Ash."

"Okay, but who would be going there and why?" he wonders out loud. "May can't really finish the job with a weapon while in a crowded hospital; she's likely to get caught."

"As you probably already know, she doesn't need to _buy_ a weapon in order to do damage. But just watch who comes out of the shop and you'll get your answer." Ash follows directions out of pure curiosity. After about thirty seconds, the door to the shop opens and out exits a blond-haired kid with very glossy green eyes. His purchase is wrapped up and has been taken out of the store in a backpack so no one will be the wiser. He looks from one side and then to another as if to check for anyone that might notice him, though in his mind, it may serve as a light form of paranoia, stranger things have happened, even while he's been dolled up to look like something not of this world.

If it amounts to any consolation whatsoever, he has fooled at least one person. "Neewteb-Ni, I really think that you're mistaken here. I don't remember _anyone_ from my life looking like he does. He looks butt ugly, whoever he is."

"Keep looking…and listening. With that ego, he's sure to spill the beans before his time is up. If nothing more, he'll keep reminding himself of what he came to do because it's practically consumed the poor guy."

Watching the premises once again, he removes his backpack feeling that he's in a good position to check over everything that he's just bought. With a load of cash in his pockets and an unshakable mission on his mind, Kenny has been playing it as cool as he possibly can, knowing that a few more bus stops on his trip will lead him two blocks away from the house of the former and current Grand Festival champions.

Sitting down in a wooded area just across from the gun shop and a few minutes away from the bus station, Kenny can be seen counting his ammunition and loading his gun for future use. The weapon, a common 22A model pistol, came with 100 bullets and given the fake ID of Daniel Christopher Morgan, he was able to purchase the weaponry with the dealer believing that he was selling his merchandise to a reputable customer and not a vengeful and felon assailant on the run.

With the pistol able to hold ten rounds at once, Kenny's ammunition is likely to last a long time, and should the need arise to shoot more people than he initially intended, that will not be a problem.

"The final step," Kenny speaks. "Protection is number one. You've gone to your destination, being Twinleaf Town, and you're close. Now, you need to arm yourself. Rid yourself quickly of any fears or displeasures with guns as you will need one in this and any other mission here with the Five. It is likely that you are taking part in an activity that is illegal. If you want to accomplish your goal, and I sure do, then you have to take every step the right way. We've equipped you with the needed tools to get you as far as you have gotten. It's up to you, now, where you go from here. Godspeed to you and remember, once five, always five."

"Wait a minute," Ash remarks. 'Once five, always five?' he ponders. "That's the—he just said the motto for Avenue Five! But I don't know any 'Five' members!"

"Are you sure?"

Completing the loading of his firearm, Kenny declares, "It's officially on, Dawn Berlitz. Your mother had damn well better cooperate with me, or there will be more than just hell to pay. If Kenny Dalton or Daniel Morgan has anything to say about it, you will pay for ratting me out and sending me to jail, even if I have to get in the way of your new girlfriend, it doesn't matter. I'll take the butch down if need be, too."

Ash finds the name difficult to get out at first. "Ke-ke-Kenny Dalton?" he questions while Kenny looks at his watch and determines that there is only a few more minutes remaining until he has to go to the bus terminal and leave to take care of his plans.

"And you said that you didn't know any members of the Five." Before Ash can open his mouth in protest, Neewteb-Ni responds, "I know. You had no idea _whatsoever_ that this was going on! Well it is, and…it did. Both Kenny and Dawn lived really fast. Dawn reformed herself and Kenny did two years behind bars. This all could have been resolved if Dawn was just honest about her destructive lifestyle, but because she wasn't, it might come back to bite her in the ass before long."

"Her drug use?"

"Oh, yes. Kenny is not playing around. Spending about two and a half years in the pen knowing that you were not fully responsible for what happened way back when can drive someone insane, even with all of the rehabilitation that correctional facilities have. It's been consuming him to get back at Dawn after all this time. She was scared, though, because she did just about everything that Kenny did, and even a few things that he wouldn't."

"So, let me see if I have this right; there is enough evidence to charge and convict Dawn for drug offenses?"

"With as strict a drug policy as all of the regions have," Neewteb-Ni answers, "it is very possible that your friend Dawn could go back to jail provided that the statute of limitations doesn't run out before Kenny can present evidence that was inadmissible while he was in his incarceration period."

"Damn, that's harsh!" Ash exclaims. "But—but it's not as if Kenny really wants to have a discussion with Dawn and ask nicely if she would turn herself in and tell the truth! He got a damn gun and is saying that it's on!"

"That might be the understatement of the year," the being admits. "Yeah, I don't think that with Dawn's stubbornness, Kenny's wish for Dawn to finally have her day and both of their short fuses that this will be a calm, adult discussion."

"Somebody has to stop him, Neewteb-Ni! Clearly, Kenny's not thinking straight because he's got this apparent history with the Five. It's sociopathic! He's singing their praises and speaking their credos while he's a convicted felon, was somehow able to go in what I can only hope was a reputable gun shop and he purchased a .22! I mean, you told me the boy was in jail for over two years. Shouldn't…wouldn't he then have to go to parole? I mean, isn't there a halfway house out there with his name on it? Shouldn't he have to go under house arrest—someone had to have made sure that these arrangements were made, right?"

"Yes, but when you're with the five, you're family," Neewteb-Ni retorts, "and family will always look after you through thick and thin…something like that. They don't actually have to be related by blood and sometimes, that's for the best. Kenny found a family that would support him because for some time before he got arrested, he supported them and earned them a lot of money to boot. Because of that, they are actually funding a manhunt and not even knowing it. I doubt they'd really care, though. If it means another operative doing dirty work for them who's not in jail and not being monitored by law enforcement, who already walks a tight rope with these guys, then it's really all gravy. It's not as if they really have any care for human life, given that they were willing to dump one of their own the instant he decided to grow a backbone and leave the group for his life."

"James," Ash simply says. He remembers that that is the exact same situation that happened with his fiancée's friend some years back and what he had been reliving until he got sent to this place. "I've seen this happen before, and the fact that Kenny is getting money from the Five, in exchange for who knows what, is the reason for all of this. I mean, it's not as if a bus ticket from Rusboro to Twinleaf Town is cheap, you know."

"Let's not forget the gun and the ammunition."

"How can I? But there is something that doesn't quite fit with all of these actions from Kenny. Yeah, I get the fact that he's off to get Dawn back for what happened some years back when they traveled and, apparently, sold and did drugs together, but why Twinleaf when all of the news reports that I heard before my coma said that Dawn was not there? Hell, Johanna even made a statement to an entertainment newswire saying that she wasn't at her house, but that she was safe."

"So, how would she know that her daughter is safe if she is not near her and won't disclose where she is?"

"She's trying to protect Dawn," Ash answers, though even for him, that answer was a simple one. "Maybe she knows that Kenny recently got out of jail and is aiming to get back at Dawn for what went down between them. _Or_ it could be that she's attempting to keep Zoey secret, as well. Maybe they really did get together and she just wants the two to sort things out."

"Maybe," Neewteb-Ni wonders. 'Hopefully,' he thinks. "Oh, Ash. Look at the bus about to come to the station." Ash checks back over by the black knight to watch a bus pulling up by a sign for Twinleaf Town stops, but one thing he does not see is Kenny at the station.

"Maybe he won't make it on the bus!" he speaks, hoping that it becomes a reality.

"Or, maybe he will run to the stop at the last possible second," Neewteb-Ni responds as Kenny does in fact make his way to the line leading to all Twinleaf Town stops, bumping into a gentleman with long hair, pleated beige slacks and a thin jacket on his person while he was waiting for his ticket to be checked before boarding the bus.

"Oh, that's unfortunate," Ash speaks while looking from his own perspective.

The gentleman turns around to face Kenny with a very stone-faced look on his face and warns the teen to "Watch where you're going next time and plan ahead. Maybe you won't be in such a hurry in the future. You understand?"

Kenny is taken aback, but only a little bit. It had nothing to do with the stern and somewhat cold words coming from the man as much as how this person looked. It seemed as if he knew this gentleman from a time long before he got embroiled in the dirty job of organized crime or entered the crazy and often times wild world of Pokémon coordinating. Before all of this occurred, he was a part of his life as much as anyone at age five.

But then, if that person is the same one from his preschool days, he left without warning. He can't ask him if he is that same nice gentleman who allowed Dawn to be a friend of his over a decade ago. He is incognito, after all, and any inkling of his true identity surfacing may very well foil his reason for coming to Twinleaf Town in the first place. He's not sure if he's the same person who left with suitcases in the middle of the summer of 2002 to head for points south in the Hoenn region. Even if he were the person that Kenny thought he was, it wouldn't do him much good asking as that would blow his cover, as well.

"Yes, sir. I understand," and Kenny just leaves his conversation with the gentleman at that as they and everyone else en route to Twinleaf Town boards the bus for all stops to come.

"Someone really needs to stop him," Ash says, matter-of-factly. "There's no need for this at all. Buying a gun; why would you do that unless you're planning on doing some real damage, huh?"

"Unfortunately, the gun may not make as much damage as the fist did."

"_Did_? You mean that Kenny was hitting Dawn?"

"No, not Kenny."

Ash is getting a bit confused. "Well, was there someone else involved in her life at the time that did this? No, don't tell me it was her father and that's the reason why he isn't in her life?"

"No, thankfully," Neewteb-Ni explains, "but…she has been hit by someone that she thought she could trust. All of the frustration in the world can't excuse what happened away, but…I get the feeling that while Dawn is most vulnerable and frustrated with the news about Kenny's release and having to open up about the truth, this is gonna be difficult for her to get through...without her prince."

"Wait a minute. Then that means that Dawn got hit…_recently_?" he asks, whispering the last word.

"I was just as shocked as you when I saw it."

"Saw what, and who is the damn monster that did this to my friend, and why?" Ash nearly screams.

"There's no reason for it, but you almost get the sense that with honesty and forgiveness, there would be no abuse, no exploitation and no need for intervention from beings such as myself," he somberly speaks. "I'm not trying to say that Dawn was at fault here, but there is always a better way if you seek it."

"What happened, Neewteb-Ni? That's what the hell I want to know! Can you tell me what went down and what prick's brains I'm gonna have to bash in when I see him?"

"Watch your words, Ash," Neewteb-Ni sighs, "and look over at the white king and queen. You'll notice that they are next to each other. Could we get a look at the incident in question? But for just a minute, please?"

Ash attentively looks at both chess pieces and sees the picture start to develop. It starts out with Dawn putting this person in her place, not his, and then, just a few short seconds later, the blue-haired beauty from Twinleaf gets her chin rearranged by a fiery redhead who didn't appreciate the words, including the intentionally insulting 'c' word coming out of the mouth of the one she loves.

If Ash's eyes went any wider, they would pop out of his sockets and bounce off the chessboard floor like marbles. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would ever see something quite like this, but it has apparently gone down. Zoey, who Ash wasn't even sure was with Dawn, was the monster that he was inferring about earlier when Neewteb-Ni told him that someone had hit Dawn one time too many.

He backs up for a bit as the pieces go back to white and then shakes his heads and looks to grab at his temples before saying, "No. No, no, no way, Neewteb-Ni. That…you don't—that's not…real, is it?"

"I'm sorry, Ash," he laments. "It's difficult to show people abuse and even more difficult to admit it. No one benefits from it at all. But everyone who's ever been affected by it has a story. Whether legitimate or otherwise, this has an origin. Now, it's up to you if you want to see this or not. Zoey and Dawn are about to confront one another after the hit. Do you want to see this? Whether you see the link to them or not, there is a lesson that can be learned from their struggle and I would like for you to see it. Are you ready?"

Wiping the sweat from off his brow, Ash is weighing whether it is truly worth it to see this happen. Asking a question out of curiosity, he wonders "There won't be any more…hitting, will there be?"

"I don't know!"

"But you said…"

"You take the risk, or the path of least resistance. It's your choice."

Could he take any more? He's heard many stories from family and friends about what abuse, be it mental physical or emotional, has done to households. Actually watching it play out much like a stage play or a dramatic theater is one thing as there is some disconnect between him and the characters, but when the abuse is taking place between people that he knows, loves and cares for, it's most certainly another. The decision to look at more is one that requires only a yes or a no, but it's nowhere near that simple.

But he feels that if there is a lesson to be learned and learning it will get him to where he wants to go, then he will go there. "I want to see it, Neewteb-Ni."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, before I change my mind, I want to see it, please."

"All right. Here goes. Zoey and Dawn; the king and queen at odds. If only kids today knew that it doesn't have to be this way."

* * *

A/N: I'm…back! And wow! It was eight months…which strangely enough seemed to just blow by. This is great, and next week, you all will see Zoey and Dawn confront each other again after the hit. Next Friday is my deadline, and I'm sure to reach it! See you then.

And until next time, this is Rave!


	25. Human Game of Chess, Part 2 of 2

A Confession Gone Awry

Ash Ketchum did not end up biting the big one as he thought he would, instead finding himself on an enormous chess board with a spirit guide in human form named Neewteb-Ni. Back and forth arguing with the being has left Ash somewhat confused, though Neewteb-Ni charges Ash to just look around for answers in the chess pieces on the board. Each piece brings him glimpses in the lives of people that he knows very well. These people include his former rival Paul as he fills out paperwork for a police station and confirms plans to go out to dinner with his brother and boyfriend later that evening.

He also saw Kelly and May while they had phone sex, something he really did not desire to see. Along with that, he watched as Drew drove recklessly away from May and bawled his eyes out once more stopped by a freeway overpass. Throughout these views, Ash is warned by Neewteb-Ni that he cannot be heard, much to his (Ash's) annoyance. He's told that all of the images and scenes that he's watching are designed and placed in front of him as a warning for him to be honest about why he is where he is before it's too late.

Ash also sees Kenny, as his alter-ego, Daniel, buying a gun and ammunition and getting onto a bus en route to Twinleaf Town. As the black knight speaks, he claims that it's on and that no matter what he has to do, he will find Dawn and get his just due. Over this exchange, Ash learns that Dawn has been a victim of abuse. Angered and enraged, he demands to learn who put their hands on Dawn. Neewteb-Ni agrees and much to his shock, Ash finds it difficult to believe that it was actually Zoey, who is the white king to Dawn's white queen, who hit Dawn one time.

Neewteb-Ni sends the invitation to Ash to see what happens after the hit when Zoey and Dawn eventually confront one another again. Initially, he was quite apprehensive at the idea of seeing it, thinking that there would be more where Zoey's hit came from and due to the fact that he heard many horror stories about abuse from family and friends. Neewteb-Ni lets him know that there is a lesson to be learned in the story, and Ash eventually makes the decision to watch the confrontation between the white king and queen.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 25- Human Game of Chess, Part 2 of 2)

* * *

With a lit cigarette in one hand and her cell phone in the other, the Twinleaf Town native and current Grand Festival champion, who would appear to have everything going her way on the outside, faces the greatest dilemma ever in her young life on the inside. There is no other way to put it as she gets even more of a taste of the tobacco in her mouth that's allegedly supposed to calm her down. Lies really do breed more lies. She found this spot because Zoey told her about it on Wednesday. She likes it as it's far off from the people but still on the property, where she can just sit down and consider all that has happened. On this giant tree log that fell a while ago, which Zoey apparently never felt the need to remove from this otherwise pristine and immaculate setting. Perhaps there were some days in her life during summers past where she felt the need to just get away from everyone, sit down and watch the scene at the edge of the ocean where the saltwater tickles the sand ever so carefully at its edge.

The past six and a half days have been among the most memorable that she can remember in sixteen years. It's not often that one can point to such a brief moment of time and highlight it above various other times like a young child's first ice cream, the first time that they rode a bike without the training wheels on, or even their first sleepover. But this time and these moments are not ones that can be measured in one emotion of happiness, anxiousness, nerves, love, or a great sense of accomplishing what was thought to be like the brass ring; unreachable for those who didn't aim to reach. Not one emotion, one word, one feeling, one thought, one premise, one moment and one stitch in time can define them for they, like the people who live them, are multi-faceted. They are, in fact, living beings themselves. All of these thoughts and many, many more had a role in her life at this point and have her sitting away from the other reunion goers pondering exactly where to go from here.

The moments have spoken to her and have made one point exceedingly clear in her mind while everything else remains ambiguous and fuzzy; it is not for her to make a decision based upon this one moment in time where more than just hell broke loose and waste was not the only thing that hit the fan. The planets had to be in perfect alignment for this imperfect moment to occur and throw Dawn Berlitz into the emotional tailspin she finds herself in right now.

Pride still plays a role despite the fact that it really shouldn't. Most of her secrets are out and the fact that she held fast to them for as long as she did is the reason for whatever pride remains. She will admit that she was wrong for getting sucked into the lifestyle she did along with finding comfort and solace in drugs and other narcotics when family and friends would be for the best in light of Paul's revelation to her four years ago.

Her energy and vitality, once a source of strength and perseverance, had gone the way of her confidence, leaving her broken, but not beyond repair. But when she was finally able to get away from these physical and mental poisons, she seemed to slot back into life as usual with no one being the wiser. She could have easily come out and admitted that she had done things off the cuff and according to the rules of her former friend, Kenny, but in the name of pride, her mouth remained shut…until today when she felt, at least, that it was being pried open by her concerned love when she told her that she would not judge and would tackle problems with an open heart and a likeminded head. For opening up, she got a chin treatment and a slew of tears for her troubles, but nothing is ever that simple.

It is one of the greatest of ironies that with pride comes tears. This is because tears are more often than not a sign of shame. But in the act of prideful sorrow, they hardly see the light of day and are private where people never have to be, or act, proud. Pride still seems to get in the way just a little bit with Dawn, however. In keeping with her actions up to this point, Dawn has taken this hour or so and spent the majority of it shedding tears like a snake sheds its skin. They came all at once and had no regard for her own shameful pride that made her somehow think that Zoey would not accept her past and love her for who she was. She knew better than that…now. Her only wish being that she would have known this much earlier before romance both accentuated and cursed their seven-year relationship in ways neither could imagine just one week ago.

"I've been a real ass about things like this," she admits while watching the waves come and come out from the island and feeling the breeze as it serves a role as a calming moderate between the absolutes of thinking and feeling within her at the moment. Throwing out the butt of her cigarette into a natural disposal in the sand, Dawn recollects on the things she's said against that which she has done. "We all have dirt, after all. I was just really embarrassed by mine. Zoey…might be hypocritical about some things, but at least she swallowed her pride and was honest about not doing the right thing by me and letting me know of certain activities and people that I should have watched out for. She was looking out for me when she did those things, too. I was only looking out for myself and making sure that I looked good, though. What does that say about me, really? I want to look good to everyone else, maintain a reputation as being a 'good girl' and carry myself as such when I _know_ nothing could be further from the truth and that people will say whatever they want. What does that really say about me?"

"It says that you want desperately to hang onto whatever shred of innocence is left, and who would blame you given all that happened? That's something that we lost when our conversation went to hell; I felt bad that you came off of Paul and then went to Kenny and…you were vulnerable, and that's one of the main things that I forgot. Here I am wishing so badly that I kept my promise, too. It would have saved me all of this…"

Those words just spoken have come from a voice that Dawn was all but certain she would hear again, but right now? Is it too soon? Are there any rules for this? Even if they are, it seems that Zoey doesn't care right now. Turning around to face her for the first time since leaving her room in pure anger, Dawn opens official dialogue between the two. "Hi, Zoey."

"Hi there, Dawn," she simply responds even after all of the words she spoke to her love. It appears that she's trying very hard not to lose herself in looking at her longtime love interest knowing what she just did over an hour ago. Dawn has every right to call the police, if she wanted, and have Zoey arrested for assault, but she didn't and that's one thing that has made her very antsy about seeing her girlfriend again. It's difficult, but she keeps her composure long enough to inform Dawn of a few things. "I spoke to my parents earlier while I can only guess you were out here. It was for the best, honestly. Both of us really needed to clear our heads away from one another. But…I should have you know that my mom and dad are _really_ disappointed in me. I mean, it took everything in them to not tear me into pieces and likely finish the job I feel I should be doing to myself."

"Did Jo-Jo and Adman have any good advice for us—for you?" Dawn questions with some hesitation and doubt given the modification to the question. "They've always been pretty cool with us, especially me. I haven't been the most honest and forthright person to _them_, yet they…didn't necessarily excuse it as much as they understood it. I mean, given that they know the whole truth about my relationship with Kenny and my full involvement with drugs…"

"They don't know all of that."

"Wait, really?" Dawn questions, legitimately shocked that the girl about six feet across from her didn't blab about what really happened, further complicating matters. "But…but they know that you hit me and yet you said nothing about the reason behind it."

"Just one thing, to be honest," Zoey admits. "I did say that I was really pushed into doing something to you as I couldn't take the words another second longer, but that's it. I didn't elaborate on the truth about your drug problems or defending yourself or anything like that. I'm gonna leave that decision to tell them whatever you want up to you. You can open up completely or keep everything the way it is. That's out of my hands and never was for me to decide in the first place."

"Okay, then. Was there anything else that your parents said; anything that you and I should take to heart?"

Apparently, that's all that the girl could stand. Zoey thought that she could dance around the issue for as long as such maneuvering would allow, but in keeping with her desire to be completely open and honest with those she cares for the most, even if it hurts, Zoey has to serve notice to Dawn here and now. It's not easy, and outside of the real telling off that her folks gave her just minutes ago; it might be tame compared to their parting advice for the pair.

Zoey is shaking from the top of her head to the soles of her feet; she appears to be a complete bundle of nerves. But, in reality, there is more to the story. As her head comes down and she covers her eyes and mouth with her forearms, the picture is nowhere near as rosy as Sunday afternoon of young love personified and the aspirations of making it work out initially starting to form. Harsh messages from a side of unions rarely seen have now ruled their lives and left them at a complete standstill facing one another with more doubts than ever.

The tears come and the redheaded teen finds it a bit hard to breathe. Dawn, showing concern for her fellow woman, comes closer to her and pleads for her to have a seat with her on the log so that she may regain her composure. Recalling back to the question she asked, Dawn asks it again and wants to know, "What did your parents tell you about us? Look at me, Zoey. What did they tell you? Please, I wanna know!"

Still, more emotion is prevalent within Zoey. Her mom and dad just didn't give her the answer she and Dawn would've probably wanted, but given their role in the life of their teenage daughter, they felt that it was for the best. It's hard to relive what was said, but hearing the opinion of her parents she knows that this has to be told. Still crying as the inevitability of what went down falls square on her shoulders, she slowly reveals her parents sullen advice. "Mom and dad told me…that it might be best…if we…weren't together anymore."

"Wait a second…"

"Mom said to me," Zoey continues, "that love shouldn't hurt, and I agree."

"Wait, Zoey. Stop," Dawn says, motioning her right hand in a 'kill' motion. "Just stop it, okay? Did you say anything in rebuttal to your mother? You just let her say this without once defending us?"

"I did something very bad, Dawn, and you know it," she struggles, not really answering the other girl's question. It's not easy to relive that which you regret with every fiber of your being. "I didn't listen to you when you said that you did drugs with Kenny and did whatever you could to protect yourself from him, from scrutiny and from criticism, unfounded and otherwise. But worst of all…I forgot how fucked up that feels, especially for someone when they're young, confused, they don't know where to go and who to turn to when they grow up with a camera in their face."

"Well, okay. Fair enough. You make a great point," Dawn retorts while grabbing Zoey's shoulders and keeping her close by. "We're honest in the fact that you made a mistake and got angry and we know that you had no excuse whatsoever for hitting me. We agree, right?"

"I agree. I was wrong."

"And so was I! I was _very _wrong because I did drive you to do wrong," Dawn exclaims. "I _refuse_ to have you take all the blame for this from your parents, though, because two wrongs never make a right. Yes, Zoey, I did lie to avoid jail time. Admitting that was the hardest part for me because it meant no more turning back as much as I wanted to turn back. That was wrong and here I am not thinking as much as I'm feeling. One thing I told you was that no one wants to go to jail, but there are some people that need to go. I know that much, for damn sure. Like the brother of your uncle who was the victim of a hate crime, or the person who assaulted Ash Ketchum on the day he got engaged."

"Interesting that she thinks that, but she must really consider you a friend as much as you do her," Neewteb-Ni analyzes as he watches the confrontation with Ash.

He just nods as all of this takes place, however. Taking in the entire conversation, so far, he's happy that the two have decided to come and talk again, this time without any screaming, yelling and hitting. "Dawn cares, Neewteb-Ni. If she didn't speak with Zoey again, think things out while away from everyone and let cooler heads prevail, then she wouldn't be Dawn."

"Maybe, but let's just keep watching right now."

"If I did take my medicine, accept my punishment and did my time, who knows what would have happened?" Dawn questions. "I don't because of fear. Fear of the unknown, and especially fear of facing a minimum mandatory sentence of five years, but…in a lot of ways, that changed. I still don't want to go to jail, for sure, but I got a lot more daring as the years went by because I felt that staying where I was would lead me back to the point of near ruin. Something had to change. Something needed to go different for me and I'm glad looking back even with all of my doubts that I took a risk. If I didn't have it in me, I doubt anything would have happened with us."

"So you're saying that even with…what we said and did to each other, you don't regret…"

"Nothing. I don't regret anything. Most of this has been very good for me—for us. But this brings me back to the point that has to be made given what you told me. Your parents have _got_ to understand that while they can offer as much advice as they want or need to us, they are not a part of our relationship. We make the ultimate decisions for ourselves and not them. Along with that, they may not like to hear this but when we fuck up, we come up with a solution between us, just as I'm sure they've done for themselves. Did this come about because I wasn't honest to them about my part?"

"I don't know, I'm still just…I can't believe the support they gave me…is no longer there," Zoey laments. "It's all my fault, though."

"It is not, Zoey."

"Yes, it is!" she says, remaining unyielding to anyone saying she's not to blame. "I told them that I'd be ready for this kind of relationship, but I let a whole bunch of nonsense get in the way of us growing up. Useless crap like whether you're gay or not isn't even worth the trouble of crying over it. Not to get into a lecture, but sexual orientation is not and never has been black and white. I don't know why I acted like it was. I mean, I've had my share of attractions towards the opposite sex like most. I just didn't follow through, again, like most. Why, because I doubt that I'd open up with them and share such intimate details with them like I'm doing with you right now."

"Well, we're working on this...together. That's what we're supposed to do when we've got stuff to fix is work on it. No matter how painful it might be, we still both feel the need to work on it, after this stage," Dawn responds. "But I'm gonna say this one more time; this wasn't your fault, Zoey. I can absolutely say that this wasn't all of it. Think what would've happened if I didn't goad you into taking action. Again, like the drug trial of Dawn Berlitz that never was, I'm not sure what would have happened. And like I told you, even while our words to one another were toxic, nothing's changed in my eyes. For some reason, I keep getting these chills, and yet I know that they aren't out of fear or dread, but attraction and what I can only hope is my love for you. I hate to say it, but I could feel the passion which both of us showed to one another. I'd do without us insulting each other and trying to tear one another down, but even throughout all of that, I still felt a connection as if more than just an argument could possibly break it because, truth be told, it hasn't. I do still feel the attraction, but like you said, it's not as if attraction necessarily means love."

"And vice versa," Zoey adds.

"But that's very rare, you got to admit. Love does have to start with something. I mean…that's been the case for Paul and for you, as well. That is how it started, though."

"I wanna ask you a serious question, here," Zoey speaks. "Were you ever romantically involved with him? I mean, Kenny, not Paul?"

Sighing, she answers, "No, honestly. And really, I never got intimate with either of them, which was the right thing to do. We were close and I did think that something might have come of it, but it didn't. He never asked to get together, despite what a lot of tabloids might have you think, but I'm so thankful that nothing happened between us. Who knows what consequences would have come with me agreeing to be in a non-platonic relationship while strung out on as many drugs as I was back then? I might have gotten pregnant, saddled with an STD, or even raped in a drugged state."

Lightly nodding her head up and down, Zoey just listens to what she's hearing and digests it slowly given where she and Dawn are. "I'm glad that we cooled our heads for a while and actually talked about this and a lot of other stuff," Zoey says, still a bit shaken at the thoughts in her mind right now and the fact that she's giving them some serious consideration because of their source.

"So am I," Dawn agrees, "but sooner than later, you and I both are gonna have to have a talk with your parents. I respect and value their opinions; I thank them for allowing me to be in their house and to even let me sleep with you in your bed, but the bottom line is that this is for us to decide. If anyone's gonna choose what happens from here on out between us, I don't want it to be our parents. No, they want us to be adults and to handle things in an adult way, then hands off."

"Unless, of course, one of us goes on a hitting streak," Zoey adds, in a slightly jaded attempt to add humor into a serious discussion.

It does find a somewhat attentive, yet critical, audience. "Good point."

"Speaking of parents…I see that you have your cell phone out." This is yet another difficult step on the road to redemption. Difficult but necessary, she asks Dawn, "Did you tell Johanna about…what happened?"

"No, I haven't," she answers, putting it back into a carry-on bag and out of sight. "I do plan on saying something, though. But just like I want to with Adman and Jo-Jo in a few minutes, I'd rather we explain what happened together and in person than for us to carelessly go about this. After all, I have nothing to be afraid of anymore and it's the right thing for us to do." Then, for whatever reasons her mind just cannot comprehend, her heart takes over. Perhaps not the wisest of decisions, she takes hold of Zoey by her right hand. "We're much stronger together then we ever could be apart."

She can't believe it. Less than an hour and a half from their confrontation and drama that they both admit to being responsible for, they are actually holding hands with one another. Here by this remote part of the island away from family and their questionable glances from people who heard them in their screaming contest not that long ago, could they actually be sharing a moment with one another, after everything that happened? But with this small gesture and the real conversation that they've had in the past several minutes, it seems as if progress has been made, even if it may not be much.

It was out of her realm of possibilities for what would happen between the two of them, but here is Zoey, feeling Dawn put a nice squeeze on her hand and feeling somewhat obliged to do the same, which Dawn feels and snickers a little bit as a response.

It is overwhelming in many respects. Considering the many vile and disgusting things they spoke to one another, how could they get here so quickly? How could things turn like this to the point where their romance truly seemed like that again? Zoey just wasn't one to believe that much in things like fate, destiny and the idea that somehow our lives are all mapped out like a giant flowchart. Sure, love can happen for anyone, she thought, but one has to first admit feelings before they are realized. And, besides, if all the happenings in her life were drawn up for her already, then she has thrown out enough plans that more lives can be created from her very own trash.

She believes in hard work and the fact that giving it 110 percent each time will grant her whatever she needs, wants, or desires in life. The same rule did indeed apply for her relationships, which made this scenario she found herself in more difficult to digest. Zoey, having done undoubtedly one of the worst things that a partner can do in a romantic relationship, is now holding hands with her love right afterwards. She doesn't feel she deserves it. After all, what did she work so hard on for so long to deserve it compared to that which she did to potentially cause its utter destruction? "What are we doing, Dawn?" she honestly asks her. "I don't understand this. I don't know where we are right now, and it scares the hell out of me." Again, Zoey's tears are legitimate just like Dawn's from earlier. They come due to the fact that nothing is certain at this point with everything in a state of limbo. She doesn't like it because of the lack of knowledge she has in this relationship and whether it is even still a romantic one or not.

"Zoey, it's okay. I swear to you, it's okay," Dawn says, attempting to assure her that things will take a turn for the better. "I don't want you to think that something is right when it isn't. I don't know about you, but I am willing to let the past be the past and move on from here. It won't be a quick fix and you can't expect everything to be better overnight, but this is better than nothing, I know that much. One thing is clear to me, though. Even when we were fighting in there, I can't remember ever saying anything like 'It's over,' 'We're done,' or 'I've had enough'. I know that nothing like that came out of either of our mouths, so that probably means that you and I weren't serious about that, right? If we were, we would've probably demanded it, but…I never heard it."

That much is clear in Zoey's mind, but something else is gnawing at her side like nobody's business. This is a something that can seal all questions into one and provide the answers that the girl needs if she is going to go any further from here. "Do you still love me, Dawn?"

Oh, the struggle is far from over. The pain on both of their faces is clear like the day, even though the sun is setting on this Saturday. The question is easy, but at the same time, it's not. The fact is even with everything that's happened it leaves Dawn with her feelings; the same ones she had earlier in the week when she fought hard to defend her relationship in front of her mom and dad. "Well, Zoey. Like I told you, even when we hit bottom earlier today, I never did say that I wanted to leave you."

"I didn't ask you that, Dawn," Zoey calmly interrupts. "I don't even really care about that because people are still together but not in love or physically attracted to one another. I just want to know if you still love me or not."

Dawn had the feeling that she would get that reaction from Zoey concerning her answer. There is that little voice in the back of her head that causes her great concern and is leaving her doubting whether or not this will be the answer that Zoey really wants. "Just…I want you to understand that I have never felt any sort of obligation to be with you and I don't have any…I want to move on and forgive you, but that doesn't mean that I will forget. Even with all of this shit that went down, even with us still not knowing what's gonna come next," Dawn just doesn't know how simply she has to put it…and why this is becoming so difficult to admit.

It only takes about five words at the most to answer her girlfriend's question, but they don't want to come for whatever reason. Could it be the dreaded fear coming back to foil the good feelings that she had with Zoey as friend and girlfriend that's causing this hesitation? Whatever it is, it feels like a giant burden and she feels sick to admit it even though every bit of her knows that this is true.

Zoey notices that this is not coming about the way she thought it would and can tell looking right in the face of the sixteen-year-old. "Dawn, are you okay?" Zoey is fortunate that the two of them are sitting down on a large tree log because if the two of them were standing, it's very likely that she would have fallen down to the ground as a result of fainting.

"I—I'll be fine, thank you."

"Do you need any water or…"

"No thanks."

"Just take a couple of deep breaths and we'll figure out where to go from here." Dawn does what her girlfriend tells her without response, except for holding up her left thumb letting Zoey know that there's nothing to be worried about.

While aiming to get herself back together, one tear runs down her face as she covers her mouth with her hands and coughs two times. "Zoey?"

"Yeah, Dawn? You're cool, right?"

"Hopefully, I'll be cool," she responds. "If I say this, it's my biggest hope that things will get even better when I say this; it…I…I'm still in love with you, Zoey," she admits, while the tears come back to her eyes and make seeing the waves and the sun setting difficult for her. "You are all that is on my mind since we got together on Sunday. You are my prince, and you are my heartbreaker all rolled into one. I love you yet sometimes I just wanna strangle you. And whether it's a hug or a choke, I sometimes find myself unable to keep my hands off of you. I can't lie about this anymore. Lying hasn't done us any good, so this is where I stand, Zoey. In love, confused and scared out of my fucking mind."

Nothing can ever be as it seems. Why would it when so many things can truly be? For Zoey, a girl who believed that she took too much into her own hands, this is the case. Her girlfriend made it absolutely clear that even with their words to one another; their bond never broke, only bending in a near-impossible shape. For what it's worth, Dawn said that the only thing that's been on her mind of any truly great substance has been Zoey. Just a couple of weeks ago, while they were good friends and while they spent time together and apart over the past seven years they've been coordinating together, this would be a true honor. Miracle of miracles for believers and otherwise, it happened for her. Dawn accepted her as a girlfriend given their long and close friendship, her need for companionship that she never got in previous relationships and because the feelings of something else being there always piqued each one's curiosity.

Now, as they go through the trials and tribulations that come with being in love, they are learning that they don't want to be sorry anymore. They don't want to apologize for their imperfect lives while they should know better than to expect perfection out of their romance or anyone else's. This is apparently the time for them to climb their mountain once again, and the question that was answered for her about love is now center stage in this great dramatic play that is her life.

"Here's the thing, Dawn," Zoey begins. "So much of what I've done in my life has been based on my feelings. As much as I've wanted to think it out and then make a decision, I've been more inclined to focus on my feelings. They haven't been the greatest feelings and a lot of that has to do with me not wanting to understand your story…and my bloated ego, to boot, but more on that later. I didn't want to believe that someone I loved had to go through that pain on her own. Throughout that time, I did have feelings for you. You're still sweet to me, no matter what anyone might say. Despite that, you could have turned to me if you needed any help. We were talking a lot during that time over the phone while I was off in another region. It would have been as much of an honor to see you towards better health as it would have been to call you my one and only. I guess that's what got me so pissed off is the defiance, but you've been known for that for a long time personally and professionally so I should have seen it coming.

"This is my biggest problem, though," she continues. "I hit you out of anger and told you not to come back because you still wanted a 'closed door' policy with things that you've already let out. I guess you could say that I saw it as a form of circular logic and got me even more pissed off, which is an excuse that is equitable to bullshit, but…what I've said to you and about you…I know can't come out of my mouth again. They can't come out of my mouth if you've said the same thing I did and you still love me just like I still love you. If that's the case, then I should just go to my parents and lay upon their feet for all advice from here until death."

Dawn takes the speech and the words from her girlfriend in and knows that they are about in line with her feelings speaking to her earlier about what she did wrong. The two have made their cases; Dawn admitting that she was wrong for trying to be partially open about her drug issues and sexual orientation and Zoey admitting that violence wasn't the answer and that out of ego, she felt slighted when her then-friend did not let her know that she was in desperate need of help.

Both teens have also admitted that the love they have for one another has remained unchanged. They are still in love, but are smart enough to know that that is not enough to sustain their relationship or build towards ultimately repairing things for the better; something they both agree _must_ be done. Now is the time for them to start the process of beginning again. Now is truly the moment where both girls have to start over.

Zoey spends this time, in silence, looking out into the water and finding images come into her head about days of old when family members, including her cousins, brothers, sisters, and even herself one time, would be out in the water, playing and just having a great time. Not once were there ever concerns of people stabbing her in the back, telling her half truths or not turning to her with their problems as is often the case with a girl like her. All she and her family would do is swim, splash water at one another and mix the sand at the beach the right way for building the perfect castle.

How simple was that? It was truly the life for her and the people nearest and dearest to her. Sure, they might have said things that they didn't mean but things were often times settled with a hug and never a handshake; a kiss and not a raspberry. This was the time that mom and dad were really loyal of the title and everything that they said you obeyed, or else you suffered the consequences. And if they were right about just one thing in the world and they got your attention in any way possible, it was when they sat you down and told you that without exception there was absolutely nothing that you could not do if you put your mind to it. And when you questioned them by asking them 'Anything,' they replied back to you nodding their heads with the toothiest smile imaginable, affirming 'Anything.'

What the hell happened to those days? Does growing up involve losing most of your sanity in the midst of it? Is this really the meaning of losing your innocence; to take part in the highs and lows of life including everything in between? If so, why in the world would any of us want to go back to the way things were? Sure, we had a lot of fun, lived life on as much of an edge as we thought and our parents would allow and enjoyed the company of our brothers, sisters, cousins and other playmates for as long as playtime lasted. But when it ended, and for all of us, it has to, we have to get to the reality of life. We have to assume roles as adults and take up adult matters and handle things in an adult way. We no longer insult or tease the people we love as a 'natural' response to feelings of the sort. Instead, we roll up our sleeves, take the initiative and ask people if they are interested in us or not. We take the risks as kids because we are guaranteed, in most instances, to have mom and dad there to pick us up and catch us should we fall.

As an adult, we are not afforded such measures. As we transition, we find ourselves in the position of catching ourselves more often than just a few years ago because that is what's expected. But for falls such as this one that Zoey and Dawn have experienced together, it's an interesting paradox to say the least. This time, neither parent is there to stand by their child for different reasons. Some are not knowledgeable of the story, but soon will be, while others stand in flat-out opposition of the actions of their own while still loving them unconditionally.

Here they sit, one thinking very much about how while times were much simpler when matters of love weren't on her mind. The other one has similar thoughts, but they center more around the future more than they do the past. If she could have it her way, then she'd make every single moment from this point going forward count. She'll definitely have to work hard and there's no guarantee whatsoever that she'll be able to completely shed the skin of drug addiction, but she will give it a fighting shot. Dawn would love to forget it all and declare that the weak individual that she was is no longer there. It's clear given her actions over the past week, especially when threatened or goaded by people like Rocky, her Aunt Sienna Drake and even her girlfriend. She's a different person now. This has been the case for a while, though, and this week has been the perfect example of this new person coming out for the better.

While she watches the waves with Zoey and the back and forth that they are known for more than anything else, she gets the sense that she's been known by those in her inner circle for being just like a wave. Back and forth she goes from place to place, person to person and heart to heart, not staying long enough to enjoy what she has next to her right now. Although there are many lessons that she can take from the waves that would not be one of them. Being like a wave with the people she cares for has only left her with no base and thinking that nothing would change once she entered this serious relationship, she got saddled with a shock to end all shocks and another lesson learned in heartbreak and a hard hit.

The lesson to be learned was that wherever she was, there was Zoey; something that, at one time, she forgot. For as much as she attempted to shoo her away, there she would be again, somehow, someway, back into her life just like a wave to her wave. Though, looking back on these occurrences, Dawn now gets the sense that Zoey wanted to be much more than just a passing fancy or a recurring rendezvous, but something was always amiss. Despite such mishaps, Zoey never let her disappointment show, valuing her friendship above all else. Even with Paul, she wished her nothing but the best and that she remains strong with a young man who regarded the trait highly himself.

She was there ever since the day of her very first contest and right there through her success coming back through coordinating in her mid-teens after rehab. In Dawn's very erratic and wild existence, Zoey has remained an enduring constant for better and for worse. This left her very saddened at the mere thought that she would go as far as she did in her words with the girl. This is the girl who was there more than anyone else, with the sole exception being the woman; her mother, Johanna.

Dawn is fortunate that something is being done about this miscarriage of emotions right now. While there is no silver bullet that can magically repair all of the wounds, steps can be made to get to their Promised Land. This lengthy conversation that she's had with Zoey is the start, but the finish is likely far beyond the horizon of even these waves. She won't know how long it will take, the tears she will inevitably shed and the heartstrings will be tugged to get her back where she feels she belongs, but the little steps should make all the difference in the world.

For once, one girls' attention is not on the waves, but on their other half. Deep thought has brought her to this point and even more thought and conversation should bring them further to where they eventually want to go. "Zoey?" Dawn asks, even though one-word questions don't often contain proper names. At this point, she could care less about lectures in grammar given what she's gone through in not just the last few hours or days, but life in general. What difference does it make in the long run compared to this small step?

"Yeah, Dawn?" she replies.

Her head down for a moment, she feels that for one action, there needs to be one equal and opposite in its impact.

This time, she will take the first step. "May I have a hug?"

Indeed, it is interesting given that they promised to have a long and worthwhile chat with Jo-Jo and Adman before the end of the day that this gets asked. Interesting, but it doesn't mean that Zoey will turn it down for anything. Tears still in Dawn's eyes and the indication of the same in Zoey's serve as clues of these two thinking along the same plane; down, but not out and apparently never even close to it, though looks do have a way of deceiving. Such a happening might only occur should it be up to one of the two to call it enough.

But that day is not today and that time is not right now. What is right now is a request from friend to friend for an embrace. What's happening right now is what Zoey cherished at age eleven for untold reasons and now, at the ripened age of sixteen, still loves. "Of course," she says to the surprise of nobody. Upon this answer, both girls stand up from off the log. They then look over each other and open their arms wide.

The sight was an ode to long lost relatives or anyone who just stood in the need of a calming wrapping of affection into a package built for delivery. The journey remains a difficult one as from hit to hug, nothing came easy for them. Though, in a love affair, what does? Scrutiny caused scuffle and the whole thing fell into near chaos in a packed house, but they continued to go even while they were in such a mood that they could've slit one another's throats without a second thought.

Despite it all, the feel is a welcome one as the two hold one another tightly and speak of their need to eventually let go, even though both of them don't want to do it just yet. They keep reminding the other that they still love one another, as if such clamor was needed. Perhaps they did it more for themselves, but at this point they just want to keep love on their minds and their mouths. Few things are truly about one of them any longer; not in these situations, at least.

Then, without any warning, Dawn begins to shed some more symbolic skin. She can't help it anymore and she doubts that she really wants to while in the arms of Zoey. Why when her pride has taken as big of a blow as it has on this day? It's not worth it anymore to act tough in front of her when she does know her better than most. "I'm sorry, Zoey," she speaks.

It causes other people to think about their ridiculous showing of pride and inflated egos, as well. Though they did say it many times during this real conversation, one more time can only help. "I'm sorry, too, Dawn. I really am sorry, but you know something?"

"What's that?"

"I did get an answer to a question that I had," she speaks, now tearing up again. "And I'm glad that you think that what we have is worth saving after all this. I know it won't be easy and we're far from where we'd like to be, but this is all progress. Let's just not stop. We can't rest until we're at the point that we agree what's best for us. If that means staying together, then fine, but if that means breaking up, then I'm fine with that too, just as long as we are civilized about it and we can remain friends. We can do this, right?"

"Yes, Zoey. I'll try if you try."

"Then I'll try…for us," she answers before silently agreeing to let go of Dawn. There are a few more things that they must get to before the night ends and the sun waits for no man or woman when it says the day is done. Neither girl wishes to just rest on their laurels for what's about to happen with Zoey's folks in just a few minutes, so the older teen nods a bit to her counterpart.

Dawn nods back, adding "Let's do this," before taking the hand of Zoey and taking the walk back to the house and the ongoing celebration. While their looks say somber, their hearts speak of optimism and their walk does the same. It takes at least ten minutes to go out to this spot that Zoey told Dawn about the night they arrived at the house. She said that she would go there some summers to clear her head about other problems and happenings in her life and found the place to be great therapy.

Here, it continues to live up to its reputation as the road to redemption gets paved for these two girls to walk as smoothly as possible. While smoothened, the road is not easy to traverse by any stretch, but holding on to one another's hands, they can accomplish more together than either of them could do apart.

While they truly feel that no one else is watching them who could jeopardize the recovery of their relationship, they are right…but there are people watching from afar. Ash is, along with Neewteb-Ni, and neither of them can believe the pain, the pleasure, agony, affection, love, lust, lies and all other actions going on before their eyes and as they watch, both the young man and the being stand in awe at what they saw before in the hit and what they're seeing afterwards in the hand holding.

"Amazing," Neewteb-Ni speaks as the white king and queen, which they watched all of this on, shut off, leaving just the chess pieces there in the places that they remained as they first watched this footage. "That's how I can describe it best to you, Ash. That's the best way I can explain it to myself, too. It's amazing, given what we just saw, that they are able to leave the way that they are and face Zoey's parents with their heads held high."

"You're right," he answers, as he feels that unless it is truly meant to be between his friends, then what he saw should not have taken place.

"I get the sense that you are not familiar with a man named Alexander Pope. Am I right, Ash?"

"No, I don't have any idea who that is," he answers. "Was he Catholic?"

A bit frazzled at that question, he nevertheless answers it. "Actually he was, even though that is beside the point. But don't feel bad about not knowing who he is, because it's not likely that your friends are familiar with him, either, but they know one thing that he said that sums up everything you've seen here with me. 'To err is human, to forgive is divine'."

"I've heard that before."

"Well that's good, because if you get what I'm about to say, you might wake up very soon." Continuing, Neewteb-Ni makes the case, "You are not foreign to the idea of forgiving people that have done you _very _wrong. You are engaged to a person you once considered the thorn in your backside."

Ash gets a feeling where this is going, but is nowhere near as standoffish as he once was given the fact that he and Neewteb-Ni have come to somewhat of an understanding with Zoey and Dawn's situation. "Eight—actually nine years it was since you began your journey at the age of ten, they've been after your 'precious Pikachu' and have been victims of blast offs and thunderbolts, galore. You had every opportunity to go to the authorities and draw up restraining orders, but you didn't. The few times they were able to get away with your Pikachu for a brief moment, they could've been arrested for a long time, but you didn't do anything about it. Now, I'm not necessarily here to criticize you for making decisions that would've kept them out of your hair for a while. That's not my job, but you have to admit that you could've done a lot more to help yourself in these matters."

"I was just…always moving, you know?" Ash replies. "I don't know how well a restraining order would have done me, especially for someone always going from place to place."

"I suppose, but how do you really explain getting engaged to your worst enemy and going over and beyond the call of forgiveness?" Neewteb-Ni questions. "I mean, that's just not what I think Pope had in mind when he penned that phrase."

"It didn't happen overnight, but I suppose that no matter who it is, it's fortunate that I at least had the chance to grow up with her."

"You grew up with May," he interjects. Ash seeks to counter such words, but he has no defense to them. The spirit being in human form is speaking the truth once again. "You grew up with her, but not the same way that you grew up with Jessie, and even if she tried to kill you, so did Jessie! Jessie tried to kill you so that she could have your Pikachu and send it to her boss, your _father_, Giovanni, whom you've also forgiven even though he's done you countless wrongs. Yet…May is evil, she can't be trusted. Oh, they have to lock her ass up and throw away the fucking key for what she did. Oh, the gall of her to even question the great Ash Ketchum in all his glory standing atop his podium with a microphone equivalent to kryptonite for May or something along those lines."

"Look, you don't know the whole story."

"Then tell me!" Neewteb-Ni interjects. "Tell me what happened after your botched attempt to find James and get him out of Avenue Five? Just how did you fall in love with Jessie Palmer?"

"We became friends, first," Ash clarifies, as part of the story as a whole. "I vowed to keep helping her as we sought to find James. Then we got together with officers and other folks and kept the search up for James. I thought that it was very odd for us to keep working together like this in a manhunt while still remaining rivals, so afterwards I asked Jessie if we could bury the hatchet and she said yes."

"So you're friends at this point," Neewteb-Ni recaps. "How do we get to engagement?"

"My mother and father," he answers. "That's how. Giovanni recommended that I start dating, but I never showed any interest primarily because I was all about work and play. My father, the sly bastard that he is, set me up on a blind date and knowing that we had decided to become friends recently, I didn't find out it was Jessie until date night when I arrived for Italian food. If the cosmos weren't working in my favor that night, then I guess the only excuse was that my first date with Jessie was absolutely fantastic.

"Either way, mom got word of me going out on a blind date and wanted to know all that she could about her. It was quite a surprise for her to learn that this person was my ex-rival, but she didn't care too much because…all had been forgiven and any friend of mine was a friend of hers."

"All had been forgiven, Ash?" Neewteb-Ni asks slyly. "You mean that people who had done you wrong in the past actually get that wiped clean from their slate?

"Jessie is different."

"Seriously, how is she different from May? You say that it's different, and I actually agree, but it's different in just one respect; the fact that you fell in love with Jessie and fell out of favor with May Maple because she wasn't Dawn Berlitz and because Dawn had much lower odds than May. That's what it came down to in the end because if you put in May's name to your bookie three weeks ago, you'd get about sixty percent on your return that you got with Dawn for betting two million dollars on the Grand Festival champion in a field where hundreds of coordinators could win. There's the difference," Neewteb-Ni answers. "There's the reason why. May kept you from your money that you illegally gained, okay? It's nothing complicated, complex or difficult to understand. It's you lying to the contest directors and you swaying results in _your_ favor. You do all of this while Jessie and your mom think the world of you! Jessie thinks that you aren't doing high-risk gambling and haven't done it for about a year. What would she think of this? You saw what happened with Dawn and Zoey when they were dishonest about one another, and they have the epitome of a teenage romance! Neither Dawn nor Zoey are really thinking about marriage, a union or whatever you wanna call it, but they've nearly ruined it due to their many lies! You want that to be you and Jessie? Seriously, because that's the road that you're on, I can tell you that with one hundred percent certainty."

It was always in the back of his head, that's the honest truth. Ash thought what would happen if he ever did get caught, so he did his best not to get caught. Whether it meant sending most of his letters to a post office box, using different names and identities to not connect the gambling to him or other methods, he did his best to cover all of his footsteps knowing that if he didn't, he would be subject to major backlash from his anti-gambling mother and fiancée.

Despite all of the precautions that he's taken over the years to keep himself distanced from gambling in a public sense, no plan is foolproof and all of his work to keep this skeleton in his closet might be for naught. He could lose everything including his freedom, much less the love and the respect of his fiancée. The risk of hiding all of his wrongdoings is likely to bring this about. The fear of being found out would often make him sick given his promise to her that he'd gamble responsibly.

Obviously, he knew the answer to the questions Neewteb-Ni asked. "I don't want to end up feeling sorry just like Zoey and Dawn. That's not what I want. That was—what I saw between the two of them was very scary. That was just…frightening. Yes, they are still together and yes, they aren't at one another's throats, but just look at them, and you know that few things between them are peachy. I know I can do better than that. If I don't, I fear what happens and why should I be afraid to look over my shoulder? That's not how love works in my mind."

Sniffling a little bit, Ash gets consoled by Neewteb-Ni. The feeling of the being's hands on his shoulders, so warm to the touch, is a bit overwhelming, but he still keeps most of his emotion inside. "You're right. Are you willing to admit your sins, though? You can say a lot of things here, but when you're up there, it's on you. You have free will, but I want to know what you're gonna say."

There's a lot to speak of once he gets out of his coma, but Ash knows all that he must admit. "Okay, first I have to tell everyone that I used different aliases to gamble, I attempted to sway the results of the Grand Festival in my favor and May likely did what she did to me because of this."

"Are you willing to take all the punishment you need to for this? I mean, you admit what you did; you have the police there to hear your words and you take whatever they give you, even if they put the cuffs on you. Are you ready for all of this?"

It's a weighted question, but he has to pay the piper or risk a worse punishment waiting in the wings for being found out. He nods his head. He's ready. Now would be as good a time as any because he has no real way to back out of his decision. "Okay, I'll admit it. My gambling problems and my ego caused May to want to…kill me."

He smiles, and it's rare to see such an occurrence from Neewteb-Ni in the place he was destined to remain. "That's all I wanted from you, Ash. This…this isn't the place to stay, hoping to have a breakthrough and learn that you will either ascend back up there with family and friends or go to ashes and dust, no pun intended. I'm in between all of this, Ash. I see the pain, and I know that it's no fun. Keep up the way you were going before the hit and something will end badly for you. Either you'll forget to cover a track or your mom and fiancée will eventually catch onto a clue. Change now and there is a chance you could save face. Donate the money to charity or, better yet, put the money together to raise gambling awareness. That's just a thought. Now…it's time, Ash."

Looking at himself, he notices that he is fading and that his color is losing its vividness. "Wait, Neewteb-Ni. What is this?"

"Your transitioning back into your world," he answers. "In just a few minutes, you'll be back and out of your coma. Just remember all that you've learned here and do your best to never come back. Godspeed, Ash Ketchum!"

"Thank you, Neewteb-Ni," he responds while he fades into near nothing. Before he goes for good, he adds this parting word. "And Neewteb-Ni?"

"Yes, Ash?"

"Even you can be more than just 'in-between' if you try."

He nods. At the very least, he can say that Ash learned something in his experience in a place that amounts to purgatory. Now, as he rises, it is his hope that Ash is more than just the words that come out of his mouth.

If so, there is hope for his better tomorrow.

* * *

The beeps have continued like this for days, now. The nurses and nurse practitioners around their world famous patient still work, though, to keep Ash Ketchum stable. In their mind, he could wake up at any moment, but such a time seems far off with what little progress has been made since he was admitted on Thursday. Nevertheless, they keep working, showing absolutely no respect for person in the quest for wellness in their patients.

One of the younger nurses can't help but think this thought. "He looks quite peaceful there. I know it's…not the best thing to comment about, but even with all of these machines, he looks real good."

"Well, that's what traveling on the road will do to a guy. Amazing, though, for him to have everything that a person could ask for, yet still have someone want to do this to you, it's…oh my God, Rachel!"

The older nurse, Bonnie, watches as Ash, while still hooked up to life support, begins to suffer convulsions of a violent nature as he thrashes about his hospital bed. His blood pressure and pulse elevate to exceedingly dangerous levels. Doing what they can to restrain him with straps, Rachel hits the emergency button for the doctors to come in and help in this unexpected turn of events for the no longer comatose Ash Ketchum.

* * *

A/N: Now that Ash is back, sort of, Zoey and Dawn are the ones seemingly on life support, if you ask me! Two to three weeks and you'll get the next chapter, and we really get the ball rolling in this season. If you thought these two chapters were something else, this season will be something to look forward to for you. Stay tuned and I'll see you again in late July!

Until then, this has been Rave!


	26. Vacation: The Homecoming

A Confession Gone Awry

Zoey and Dawn confront each other after their argument. This conversation remains calm, for the most part, with the exception of Zoey revealing that her parents feel that it might be in their best interest for them to no longer be together after hearing about Zoey hitting Dawn. Dawn fully objects to such an idea, but given the fact that her folks don't know the whole story, Dawn feels that before any decisions are made, they should know the whole story. Furthermore, Dawn feels that the only people that should make decisions about their relationship are her and Zoey.

This conversation, just like the last one, is really emotional. Fortunately, though, it did not lead to any violence. Throughout their discussion, there are many tears and recollections of times best forgotten. Dawn apologizes for attempting to hold onto whatever innocence she felt she had left while she sought to reveal all of her skeletons at the same time. Zoey could not apologize enough for forgetting what it felt like to be scrutinized in front of a mass audience and for the obvious punch to the face. Despite their relationship still being on thin ice, neither of them called for a breakup, even during their intense argument. In fact, while agreeing to forgive one another, the two admitted that they still love each other and would like to make the relationship work. They seal their deal with a hug and go back to the house to confront Zoey's parents.

While they feel that this conversation was completely private while done on the beach of Zoey's property, there were two other witnesses in Neewteb-Ni and Ash Ketchum, who asked to see the conversation. After watching it, Ash admits that what he saw scared the hell out of him and he says that he doesn't want that to happen to him or Jessie should his secrets about gambling ever surface. He promises to be honest about why May attacked him and finally admits that gambling played a role. Through this, he slowly fades back to the real world, coming back through numerous violent convulsions and a rapid heart rate; all coming suddenly.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 26- Vacation Part 10: The Homecoming)

* * *

Just by the outskirts of Twinleaf Town is an outdoor surplus store. It's nestled between routes leading out of the city and the region itself. From here, anyone going out for camping, hunting, fishing or taking part in other activities involving the outdoors can get their fix and find what makes them tick outside of the office or their place of work.

For them, they find adventure outside these walls. It is here, though, that they equip themselves for the journey that awaits them. The same could be said for Kenny as he leaves the shop after going inside for no more than ten minutes to get a few items that he didn't get elsewhere and he feels could be of good use to him when he makes his way to the Berlitz home.

The only difference is that despite carrying a gun with him, he's not hunting; for game, at least.

Indeed, a firearm does send the message that he would stop at absolutely nothing to find out where Dawn is located and from there, he'd love to get her to admit to the truth. Johanna, and anyone that would dare to stand in his way, for that matter, would have to suffer the consequences, especially if they sought to take matters into their own hands and attempt to bring him back into custody before the truth gets told and Dawn gets exposed for her lies to court and eventually brought to justice under a 'zero-tolerance' drug policy which exists throughout all of the regions.

This would, in fact, mark his final step before he eventually confronts Johanna demanding answers to his questions. He doesn't really want to use his gun, but is all but certain that he has to in order to get the mother of his former friend to give him what he wants.

The house is no more than a couple of miles away from the surplus store and he can simply take a bus or buy cab fare to get to the house from here. The time doesn't particularly matter to him and with the sun setting for this day, he knows that he'll have to wait a while for Dawn to arrive unless he's convincing enough in his language to demand that Dawn get up to Sinnoh as soon as she can for a face-to-face meeting.

Standing by a bus stop, just as he thought he'd have to do to get to Johanna's house before it got too dark, he only has to wait a few minutes before a town bus comes around the road bend and puts on the brakes before arriving at the stop. Nodding his head, he knows that anyone doing this would have to be a more than just a bit crazy to believe that they could pull it off. That trait can be checked off the list right away, but aside from being crazy, Kenny must also be mentally prepared and he believes in his heart that that's also the case. After all, wherever he has gone for materials, provisions and other items necessary to pull off what might amount to a hostage situation, he's used the alter ego christened to him by Slim Sam in Rustboro City. Any slip ups involving his real name and his cover is blown, which is something he just can't afford given how far he's come just to get to _this_ point.

One point is the clearest one, though. "There's no turning back for me; that's for damn sure." He doesn't want to turn back, though. As he walks onto the bus with about three or four other people, who he presumes are making their near-daily trips back home from work, he knows what turning back would likely mean for him.

He knows that he is supposed to be living in a halfway house, but the 'Five' have allegedly taken care of that detail so that he can go about business without fear of being persecuted any further by law enforcement. In fact, Kenny got informed that the public record does show that he is currently in a halfway house and serving his court-ordered parole.

Kenny can't be too sure, but when he could help it, the 'Five' did all they could, both legally and otherwise, to make sure that he was safe and could conduct business for them, and in other cases, himself, without worry of prosecution or arrest. Now is the time where he really must stand by this group, who was there for him when his promising coordinating career seemed to go nowhere, when he got sent to jail and the hands of the 'Five' were tied given a case that appeared to be open and shut in its nature.

Once he got out of jail, he was able to quickly go back to his business of moving product to past and present customers for profit. The organization, the brotherhood, if you will, has always stood by his side when he's needed it and he's never needed them more than right he does right here and right now. Even if he gets the information he wants and Dawn shows up at her mother's house to confront him on his non-negotiable terms, it simply may not be enough.

That is the reason why he has called in a few favors to members of Avenue Five to be ready at any moment's notice. He's contacted people near Twinleaf Town and knows of operatives that could be in any city of any major region within two hours to check on Dawn's alleged whereabouts. These people, who he isn't sure he knows by name or face, are going to be his backup, in case he needs it.

If they are anything like the rest of the 'Five' in terms of their treatment of him over the past several years, then he is truly in good hands. He just has to take advantage of this second chance and make things right before another potential mistake realizes itself.

Because if it happens on his watch, as he spoke out loud, he'll just be damned.

* * *

One look at the bed of the Lilycove City native and it would appear that she's in a traveling mood. While she's packed just one briefcase, she's more than ready for the journey to come. Kelly will make the trek back over to Petalburg to talk with her girlfriend's parents about their relationship.

She's not an idiot when it comes to this matter. She knows that May nearly risked everything for her because of their love, so she does not expect anything close to a friendly conversation when she steps back into May's house, which might as well be codenamed 'enemy territory'.

Kelly's not leaving for Petalburg immediately, but someone is leaving the Mordetsky house very soon. It seems as if a lost cause might be the reason for the fact that there is packing in the other room. Solidad has enjoyed her stay; she's gotten to learn a lot about Kelly. Living with her these last few days has been good and has reaffirmed her love for the girl more than she could've ever imagined.

That's one of the reasons why she can't stay in the house for much longer. It came about because she heard the noises of sexual gratification and the sounds of pleasure just a couple of hours ago. She heard the woman she's loved since before she was a teen have sex over the phone with May Maple and it made her sick from the inside out. She knows that she shouldn't because of her faith, but she hates May. No one can convince her not to because every time that Solidad made an attempt to get back into Kelly's life, May was there, like a middle woman, to foil her many efforts without her being the wise about the feelings of the Pewter City native.

She'd exhausted all of her efforts and had nothing else to give. She was tired of her work not having an effect or convincing Kelly that there was a better way. If she wasn't willing to change, then it did no good trying and attempting to fit a square peg into a round hole.

It's not as if this decision is easy. She's cried about it, prayed about it, heard the words and the sounds out of Kelly and wondered what it would take for her to know that feeling with her once again. If she did, then it would likely have to come at a steep cost and dealt with in a way that is just not her.

Before she knew it, all of her bags are packed. Checking the guest room to make sure that she got everything, it's confirmed; she can go right now if she wants, but she promised to at least let this nice family know where she's going and that she'll be all right.

The plan is set up for her in advance, so without grabbing her bags she composes herself and walks a few doors down to Kelly's room to say goodbye for now because she knows it can never be forever as long as both of them are still here.

Knocking on the door of her first love, she is told to come in just seconds later. She does so and says hello to Kelly, giving her a hug before saying, "I have to be going soon."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I…I really do," she answers. "There are some matters that I have to handle before I go back out on the road. One of them involves meeting up with my dad back home. So…I just wanna thank you, Kelly, your folks and your staff for making me feel right at home."

Kelly was surprised, there's no better way to put it. She was actually getting used to the idea of having Solidad staying around for a while, speaking to her mom about getting pregnant in her fifties and how it compared to having Kelly.

Honestly, she's gonna miss Solidad and knowing that she can't stay forever and is always busy with something, she's not sure when their paths will cross again. This time around, she hugs her and lets her know that she'll be thinking of her and to have a nice trip. "I think that my folks are either watching TV or by the kitchen fixing a snack, so if you wanna say goodbye to them, just remember that and I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay."

Giving Solidad a kiss on the forehead, much to her surprise and pleasure, she implores her to "Be safe, Solie."

"I will," she replies. Afterwards, she makes her way back over to the door and downstairs for the last time, but not before turning around at the door and blowing a kiss towards Kelly, mouthing the words. "I'll never stop cutie."

Kelly can only guess that the older woman meant love, but she can't get an answer without opening a can of worms and foiling her plans of leaving on Sunday morning. Another reason is that Solidad is already long gone; heading down the stairs and presumably towards the kitchen to inform her folks that she has to leave.

Best to leave well enough in that instance as she continues to make heads or tails of what's coming with her to Petalburg City and to explain and try to convince May's parents, more specifically her father, that her daughter is not doing a bad thing or a bad person.

She's gone through this before and memories of Solidad during her greatest rifts with her folks are truly a mixed bag. Losing what may be her greatest gift she can give at such a young age does play a factor along with the dark secrets she keeps between her and May only. She'd prefer not to have Solidad think ill of her because of Ryan's story, so she does her best to keep away without being rude or callous. That's why her mind would rather focus on mending a new family on the edge that has a chance of being part of her extended family if she were to have her way. It's difficult but in the end, if there is anything she could do to repair what happened and make the life of another more worthwhile; she'll do it in half a heartbeat.

It's the unfortunate part of being Kelly Mordetsky. Her heart tells her that she's capable of love with May or even Solidad, but her mind won't let her forget the hell she put one family through, or the fact that she remained promiscuous despite knowing the risk she took by doing so.

File under: Lesson learned, but far too late to make a profound difference as the damage is done.

* * *

A compact light green car enters the lot slowly, desiring not to screw up while parking because the driver himself is so screwed up. It doesn't take long, fortunate for him, and the car lines up right behind his mom's sports-utility vehicle before shifting his Prius to 'park' and taking the key out of the ignition switch.

Once exiting the car and facing the cool but humid atmosphere, it's very clear to anyone outside that he has done even more crying since stopping at a highway overpass hours ago to compose himself before putting himself or other riders at risk. While not at the emotional low he was before coming back home, he still isn't over May; not even by a lengthy shot in the dark. He doubts, seriously, that such a moment will come anytime soon and will take any help that his family and friends can provide to get him out of the rut he's in right now.

Walking up to the front door, he's already prepared his mom and dad, both at home this Saturday evening, for his arrival so that his appearance back home won't be an unexpected one. Drew rings the doorbell and awaits a reply back from the other side as soon as his folks can get to the door. That actual time is about fifteen seconds as his mother opens the door, comes outside and wraps her son in her arms without any initial words. This knee-jerk response from his mom comes due to the obvious heartbreak of his breakup combined with the happiness in her heart that she has due to seeing her only son for the first time in several weeks. While she would've done without seeing him again under these melancholy circumstances, she knows that things can begin to be made better if everyone in the family pitches in and comes together on one accord to help cheer up Drew.

Drew's mom, Gina, can already feel the tears of her twenty-year old on her blouse. Never would she think of chastising him for doing it, though, given all that he's gone through; more than what she can say for either her husband or herself, so for now he continues to cling to the arms of his mother in his time of need.

"I'm so sorry about what happened, Drew," Gina opens while still giving her son a well-needed hug and sign of affection. "I can't say that I've _never_ heard of anything like this, but I'm not gonna say that you did anything wrong here. Based on what you told me, May has not lived up to her end of…your relationship at all. That's not your fault, Drew. So…I although I don't want to bring up any painful memories for you right now, I do eventually want to hear how you felt about all of this. Come on inside. Everyone's here."

"Okay," Drew answers before letting go of the embrace and walking inside of his home. Inside and sitting on the left half of the couch is his fourteen-year-old sister Ryan and his father, Lewis, sitting in the recliner.

They don't remain in those positions for long at all as they go towards Drew and offer words of encouragement and support, informing him that they will see to it that he gets back to being the son or brother that they know and love.

Ryan offers some chilling yet relevant advice to her brother, telling him, "I have a feeling that this is hard, but it's far from the end of the world. I can think of…far worse things to happen to someone. Not to compare our situations because they are different, but…we bounce back and come out of these situations the better for it because we've learned from the past." Patting Drew on the back, Ryan adds, "Life happens, man. Either you cower up in the corner afraid to live it or you keep going for the ride hoping to catch a few waves along the way."

Drew looks up at his younger sister. She's wise beyond her years to come up with that advice for him, but he knows that much of that has to do with her very unsettling past, having been sexually abused by _someone _years before she was a teenager. The feelings that Ryan went through during that time and the fact that she never got any closure from the incident while losing the ability to have a family of her own had to have a role in causing all of this, without a doubt.

Again, he need not dwell upon this, for Ryan's sake and, in some respects, the sake of rest of his family. There are a few things that came about due to the rape that have made Drew wonder just how profound a role it actually played in the life of his sibling. She seemed to take on a different personality from age ten up to now. It wasn't necessarily a positive or a negative change, but a truly noticeable one. She was always tomboyish even as a little girl, but as she got older it really showed and made Drew wonder if her rapist had anything to do with this. Ryan, according to conversations that Gina would have with Drew off the record, never spoke about any boys or crushes she had, always wanting to avoid such conversations and change the subject to basketball or her school work.

Every time he thinks about Ryan, his problems don't seem nearly as bad. His problems seem petty and while a breakup after nearly eight years of being with a person under the circumstances he got faced with is unfortunate, he knows that there is nothing in his life that is permanently affected because of May's actions.

Though quite awkward in some respects, Drew does feel better. He had a good idea that he would get cheered up, for lack of a better term, while being surrounded by his family and the people who have truly cared for him all of his life.

His father lets him know, "Drew, I think that you are a great son; the best that I could ever ask for." Taking hold of him by the left and right side of his head, he further explains, "I'm not just saying this so you'll feel better, but I just want you to know that you will find that special someone one of these days, who will respect you for you, who won't take advantage of your good heart and will love you just because you're you. I'm not saying that that person is just gonna come through that door and wrap their arms around you—I'm not even saying that you know who they are yet, because you might not, but they're coming for you if you look, take risks and leave yourself open to the idea of falling in love all over again. I did it and to this day, I don't regret the decision, because it led me to the love of my life and the mother of my two children, and that's nothing to feel bad about at all.

"It will come for you soon, Drew; you just have to believe that it will. That's the first step. May wasn't that person, in retrospect. I thought that she was and so did your mom, but we can be wrong and that was an example of…a real human moment for both of us. As far as what you told us about the breakup, it's a real shame—for her, not for you. The reason I say that is because it's fortunate that you got out of this situation without any heartbreak, also, in having not gotten intimate with her like you promised me you would."

Drew nods his head a bit while looking his dad in the eye and digesting all of his words. Thinking about it, he was just a few hours away from playing what amounted to Russian roulette with his now ex-girlfriend. The prospects for that were most likely bleak if he opted not to protect himself given May's admitted promiscuity coupled with the fact that she has been sexually active for about six years. Lesbian relationships or not, that many times with that many people are bound to be nothing short of a incalculable risk.

He got out _just _in time, and for that he is fortunate. While he does have a slippery slope to navigate from now until whenever he can claim that he's over the hump, little by little he'll get help and move on from his past by concentrating on building a bright future that doesn't include his ex. Much of this help can only come from his family as being with friends might just remind him too vividly of the friend who became so much more only to fall so miserably from grace.

As this family of four comes together to assist in helping out their broken wheel, Lewis makes the suggestion that the four of them head out for the night and do some of the things Drew wants. He knows that the likelihood of hearing everything from his only son in the next day or so is not that high. He's known the heartache and misfortune of having what he thought was a good girlfriend leave him for another, and it's downright deflating, especially for a teen coming up in the world.

'He can be depressed right now. He's got that right after _just_ coming off of a breakup,' thinks Lewis as he does what he can to get Drew to come around to the idea of a night more or less dedicated to him and the love that his family has for him in the face of a total lack of love shown by his ex. Lewis feels a need, along with his wife, to combat many years of acts of hate and abuse by May with several showings of love and true commitment from themselves. If for no other reason, he feels it to be his duty as Drew's father, but along with that comes the responsibility of charity to another in need. Even if he had no relationship to the young man in his house and he saw him on the street apparently in morning, he would reach out a hand and counteract the pain and the depression with love and assurance that tomorrow can always be a brighter day when you make it one.

Drew eventually does agree to compose himself and the family takes his car out downtown to get some ice cream before it was too late. Although the next day is Sunday, Ryan does have some early basketball practices to attend prior to her day camp in just a few weeks. She's not particularly worried about eating ice cream while in training as it's a given that she'll likely burn it off during tomorrow's practice.

That matters little to her, though, especially when it's Drew who stands in need. She and her love for the game of basketball can take a hike if it means she gets her brother back. The same can be said for her folks, Lewis and Gina, as well. Barring the situation that brought them together, his parents are happy that he is home, which is most important.

It's much better than leaving his car by the overpass not knowing what else to do.

* * *

Tapping her left foot onto the floor and rapping a pen to a wooden coffee table, Johanna Berlitz is just waiting. Having gotten a call just a few days ago about someone arriving in town wanting to speak to her has gotten her out and about the house. She's not doing an ultimate in bang up jobs as far as cleaning up is concerned, but just tidying things for his arrival should be more than enough for the two of them.

After all, as he told her over the phone, the reason that he's come back in town has to do with the concern he has for Dawn, especially actions in the last week and news of her whereabouts being held and hid by Johanna.

She agreed to this one-on-one discussion. 'If my mother was here, she'd probably slap me right across the face for doing this,' she ponders. In her mind, it's only funny because it's so true. The reason for having the talk, though, is because Dawn would not be there and would not have to hear anything about it unless things changed in her mind. On top of Kenny being released from prison and going through vacationing with Zoey's extended family, Johanna just felt that her daughter had too much on her plate and could do without this added onto the pile. In this case, she could sweep this talk under the rug and nobody would be the wiser for it.

For now, though, she waits. She did get a call just moments ago about him coming, but that had to be at least fifteen minutes before she decided to take a seat on the couch and wait for him to come back home.

Then, a couple minutes later, a few knocks on the door turn the former Grand Festival champion back over to the door. It would appear that he's here now, so Johanna gets up from her seat on the couch and takes a deep breath before walking over to the door.

Mentally, she does have to prepare herself for this moment as it has been at least nine months since the two last talked prior to this development and about fifteen since seeing one another in person. The two, for the most part, are cordial. Johanna doesn't feel that she'd ever agree to such a meeting if that weren't the case. Nevertheless, she doesn't really know what to expect once he comes back inside the house he once called home. He didn't seem really happy while on the phone, and Johanna believes she needs only one guess to figure out the reason why.

Opening the door, she sees a man who she's known for quite some time; a man who has worn many hats during the past twenty years. His shoulder-length, blond hair is the most noticeable trait he has and it hasn't changed, even after all this time. With cooler and windier temperatures this season than normal, Johanna isn't surprised to also see this person wearing a blue jacket, or sunglasses for the bright day coming up to Twinleaf Town from his current home in Celadon City.

They've been standing at both sides of the door for a few seconds before it occurs to Johanna that she hasn't even said hello to the man, so she does. "Bryan," she begins. "Thanks for coming over. You're looking good. I—I do think that it's important that we should have this discussion because like you, I'm concerned."

"You're not looking bad yourself, and you hit on the reason why I asked to come over so we could talk about Dawn," he explains. "I'm pretty damn concerned about my daughter, too. I know it doesn't show much on the surface and I know that me coming into everyone's life might do more harm than good, but…I wanna make sure, above all else, that she's happy."

Johanna nods in response to this story coming from the mouth of her ex-husband, Bryan Berlitz. The truth is she wanted to believe what he was telling her, but given the fact that he left and she got very hesitant to let him back into their lives, this desire to make things right between them didn't come without a price.

After being invited to come inside, Johanna asks him to sit down in a chair, which he does without any objection. She then wants to know if he would like to have something to drink, which he also says yes to, requesting a simple glass of water with ice.

A minute later, his request comes to him with a straw and he takes a couple of sips of the miracle beverage before putting the glass down onto the table and focusing his attention onto his ex-wife. He waits for her to say something, and she eventually does, explaining, "Well, Bryan, you were the one who wanted to see me. You wanted to talk to me about our daughter, so go ahead. You have the floor."

He mouths the word 'okay' before rubbing his temples and bringing his head down for a moment. It's been a while, since the court agreement almost ten years ago, since he's seen Dawn in person, minus the pictures Johanna sends to him on occasion. With all of the questions he has, Bryan is beginning to develop a bit of a headache while he racks his brain trying to figure out what to say without sounding cruel, rude or inconsiderate. "Okay. You know that I love Dawn and would so whatever it took to make sure that she's happy, even if that means that I'm not involved in her life like I should be. You also know…that for a while, I was not in the position where I needed to be as a father. Looking back on it, I think that my problems had to be one of the great ironies of our family. I could've helped her, or at least done something to keep her from getting addicted like I was."

"I wish you could've, too," Johanna answers, "I just feel that having you in the picture would've really complicated things."

"How, Johanna?" he asks. "Seriously, no one knows an addict like another addict and without sugarcoating anything; my daughter was a goddamn addict! At _fourteen_, Johanna—oh! But having her father there would complicate things? Excuse me? Were you ashamed at everything that went down? If so, I understand, but did the fact that she went down the same road that I did scare you that much that you shut me out in the process? I could've at least done _something _during this time! I could've at least had the opportunity to explain myself to her and tell Dawn that dad was there in the same position as she was. At the _very_ least, she wouldn't feel alone during her ordeal! I wanted to help, more than anything, but I got shot down by you each and every single time! I lived with it because I knew I wasn't a saint. I did my share of dirt and I royally fucked up my chances of being with my girl and doing what I was supposed to do. I don't deny any of that and regret ever shooting up meth and heroin for all those years.

"You should have kept Dawn away from me. You had every right to do it. I had to be kept from myself, in some respects, and know loss before I could comprehend what I was doing to everyone around me. It took the fact that I lost my daughter, my marriage and my family before I got help. And, Johanna, in case you don't realize it, I did it! I've been clean for _four years_…yet I haven't seen my daughter in almost eleven. Johanna, you know damn well that just doesn't add up."

"Bryan," Johanna begins. "I…"

"You…what? Cat's got your tongue? I highly doubt I'm saying anything but the truth here. If you thought that I just wanted to talk about Zoey Neale kissing her, you're dead wrong."

"Well, that was the impression that I got when I talked to you on the phone, Bryan," she replies defensively. "You said that you were concerned for Dawn. Did I ever doubt your sincerity as it pertained to that? No! I'm looking out for Dawn."

"Well, apparently not well enough! She found herself in these situations, she got into adult relationships, got depressed because one of her boyfriends discovered himself for who he was, she didn't know how to handle it and she slipped," Bryan says, as only someone in constant recovery mode could. "I'm not gonna judge her because I slipped. It happened to me just like her! Look…drugs didn't make her a bad person at all. She's not a bad person and I'd like for her to know me for who I am and not the person you want her to believe I am. There's a difference between those two, Johanna. Eventually, I get the feeling that she'd like to know me, but I know that soon she'll be an adult and capable of making that choice for herself. I just wish to God above that you were as fair about that as you were in your coordinating career."

"All right, time out," Johanna asserts. "How am I not being fair again? You put me and this whole family through six stages of hell when it wasn't necessary and you desired a fix more than you did your family. That's how I saw it and it was no place for a five-year-old girl and her young mother to come up in the world together. I got out, Bryan; that's what the hell I was supposed to do. I never did stop loving you and that's why I got out because I didn't want you to do anything that you would regret while I was home or Dawn was with you. You can't fault me for that."

"Again, Johanna…four years clean and sober," he restates while holding up four fingers for his ex to clearly see, "but I still can't see her, wrap my arms around her or have any kind of a relationship with her because of a _past_ drug addiction? If that's the case and if everyone deserves equal treatment in your mind, tell me why the hell are you letting her go off on a vacation with Zoey or off onto different journeys throughout the regions with her past friends? Why not just keep her away from all of that if that's what it came down to? After all, you did tell me that getting hooked up with that asshole Kenny Dalton was one of the reasons for this happening and why she fell on such difficult times? He was a friend, so what's to say Zoey won't do the same somewhere down the line? I don't want to think the worst of her, but because of my past problems, I've been shut out of my daughter's life. I just don't get…you're double standard when it comes to Dawn and I. Those people are her friends, after all. If they don't have dirt in their lives, then let me know so I can go and worship the apparent holy shit that they shit! I really think you're being pretty fucking hypocritical right now because of the person I _was_. That's not right, Johanna, and you know it!"

"Sometimes you have to do that for your kids, Bryan," she replies, the discussion obviously becoming more and more heated, but not yet devolving into a screaming contest. "Sometimes you have to explain things differently so that you don't confuse them or leave them asking even more questions that might lead to the truth, which they often don't need to hear at that time."

"She's sixteen fucking years old, Johanna!" he exclaims. "She's almost an adult, so if she doesn't hear this now, when the hell is the right time? When is it? Honestly, when does she hear that her mom kept daddy from her all this time because she could never forgive or forget his fuck-ups? It's not all about you, Johanna! She's my daughter, too and even though I haven't been in the picture, I've surely been providing. My paycheck shrinks every single time and it seems like I get nothing out of it but the assurance that she'll make her own decision about me with her only memories of me being the fact that daddy was never there for her when you know damn well I could've been…_especially_ two years ago and especially when daddy was right there and knew the struggle all too well!"

Bryan starts to get real emotional given everything that has gone down. He has every reason to do it because he's been held by the neck at every opportunity without as much as a compliment from the other side. All of his hard work has not added up to any progress as far as him being able to see his daughter again and he knows that Johanna, as the ringleader, doesn't want that to happen. For what reasons, he's still not sure. Even with everything that he's done to earn time with Dawn, he hasn't gotten it. All he's gotten are delays and setbacks from his ex-wife and he's tired about it.

As he starts to tear up on his seat in the couch, one fact continues to remain as truth in his life; Dawn needs her father, plain and simple. Now, more than ever, it's just the truth. He can't make up for the fact that he couldn't see her way through her drug problems, but he'll never fault Johanna for getting Dawn help the moment she found out about her issues. That's what she was supposed to do, but Bryan wanted to step up to the plate and prove his worth. Either that or he just wanted the opportunity to prove to Johanna that he could be a father, but he never got it and over all of this built up time, he's become truly aggravated by the way she's handled their unfortunate situation.

While he would rather not disparage the mother of his only child, he can't help but feel upset given how he's been played time and time again by Johanna. Bryan, while not using these words out loud, feels like his ex-wife thinks that this is some sort of game. Again, he doesn't want to think the worst of Johanna. She has done a great job of raising Dawn, but Bryan feels that he deserves a role in her life.

He might not have all of the answers to her questions, but he will vow to do the best he can. Seeing her daughter being kissed by another girl was more than enough for him. While he could've taken a stand against this that would've been at the risk of violating a legal court order and shutting down any potential role he could have in Dawn's life forever. That's a risk he just couldn't take and Johanna held it above his head all the time. Nevertheless, he persisted and now he feels a need to go full bore and make his presence felt before it's too late. "She needs me, Johanna," he says, pleading to his ex-wife for some understanding. "I know I was far from the best at being a father, a husband or a man, but don't shut me out because of things I did twelve years ago that I despise now. We all fall short, and I can sit here and talk about all of your wrongs, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here for my daughter and that's no lie."

His argument is legitimate; Johanna will admit that much and leave her stubbornness waiting in the wings to say that much to Bryan. "You're right, Bryan. She does need you." But that only amounts to part of the story. What Johanna doesn't want the man on the other end of the room to know is that she has, in the past, planted seeds of discontent within her daughter and influenced her feelings towards him despite having not seen him in over a decade. Her comments about the failures and shortcomings of Bryan have rubbed off on Dawn giving her an opinion of her father that is one sided and inconsiderate of his hard work to even get possible recognition of taking his rightful role once more.

It's difficult for her to admit that she had a hand in all of this, though she does have a good feeling that Bryan knows she's the main influence in the way his daughter perceives him and thinks about him. "I can't make her change her feelings toward you overnight. I did you no favors, and I think that the only reason for that was because…I wanted you to feel the hurt that I felt. That's petty and that's childish, but it's what I did and I have to live with that and the fact I turned your daughter against you." She's crying now. Having not seen him in over a year and realizing that he did everything he needed to according to her promises, but had absolutely nothing to show for it.

Johanna held onto the old image of her ex-husband and could still see that true shell of a man as they spoke. It's hard for her to just drop that image and accept this alleged new man and then present him to her only child. "I don't want her to resent me because I lied to her thinking that it was the right thing to do for us. You waited for so long because I gave you my word, but I didn't respect your call for change at all. You deserve Dawn. She deserves you. She needs you because my hands are tied and in a lot of ways, I feel that I should let her go when I don't think I'm ready, Bryan.

"She's in a relationship that I've never had. I've never known what it's like to have feelings for another girl…but I do know what it's like to defy my family for love and…in so many different ways it seems that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree...for both of us. She's telling me to stop crying and accept what's happened and that she's still Dawn Berlitz. That's not easy to take, Bryan. It's not easy to take that medicine and realize that my daughter is becoming her own woman. It's not easy to…admit that you were dead wrong about what's best for your only child. It's not easy to tell her that you don't want her to do this; go running off with another girl and you feel a bit guilty because you let it happen." Bringing her head down, the only reason for this action in her mind is shame. This shame is more in tune with her personal feelings and how they meld with the behavior of her daughter, especially during her critical teen years.

This marks a truly honest moment for Johanna; perhaps it's one that her body and soul desired, or she just grew weary of keeping up this appearance because of the disappointment she felt for Bryan. However she would like to label her tears at this point and time they are real, if nothing else. "I don't know what else to do, Bryan. I don't like the fact that my daughter is with another girl. I really don't, but I told her that I support her…"

"More lies!" Bryan exclaims while still on the couch. He's not particularly steaming mad at the moment as much as he realizes that his ex has dug herself a hole that she can't get out of without some major assistance. Then, before he can put even more onto Johanna's shoulders and regurgitate her prior mistakes back to her, he gets a good look at her. Viewing her and how she looks at that very moment, he sees that she's very distraught. Despite all of her differences with him, Bryan sees no reason to kick her down at this point. He's known the feeling all too well and it's not a pleasant one by any means. He knows he's capable of better, just as he said he could get clean and did it for Dawn, and as Johanna continues to lament about not liking what she did and seemingly allow her daughter to run off and do her own thing, Bryan stands up, in more ways than one.

Sure, he gets out of his seat and walks over to Johanna, but at the same time, he decides that it's time for him to finally assert himself after waiting in the wings for a decade, hoping for a breakthrough or a miracle to happen for him. His ex seems to be in favor of him taking part in the life of his daughter once more. He just wants to make sure that this is real. Bryan believes that he has the right to know that this is not just posturing from his ex to keep his support payments coming, for him to preserve any false hope or anything of the sort.

Patting Johanna on the back and keeping a rub going, he gives her the assurance that he's not about to stop trying to make a mark in Dawn's life for any reason, but he also knows that the key in that decision rests solely in her hands. "I want my daughter back," he lets her know once again. "I did everything you asked me to do so that I could at least see her. What's left? It seems, based on what you just said, that you need some help. What better place to turn than her own father? May I _please _have her back, Johanna?"

Before she can make a decision on that and before the two of them can continue their discussion with this no longer hanging above Bryan's head, the two exes hear a knock on the door. Bryan looks at the woman sitting down and wonders what she should do about this person at the door. "Were you expecting someone else to come here today?"

"No," she answers. "I really wasn't, but I can get them out of here in just a second." Getting up out of her seat without any further words, she heads towards the door to tell the person to come back later as now is not a good time.

Bryan, considerate of the fact that his ex-wife is not in the greatest of states right now, asks Johanna, "Do you want me to tell them to come back later?"

Johanna turns back over to Bryan, who remains standing by her chair, and clearly answers, "No. People come over and they don't really expect a man to be at the door. I promise I won't be more than fifteen seconds and we can keep talking about Dawn, okay?"

"All right," he answers before deciding to take a seat and await the return of the former Grand Festival Champion from answering the door.

Checking the peephole of the door before planning on opening it, Johanna has to take a second look. It appears that the young man on the other end is not someone she has ever seen before in recent memory. Despite that, and having already viewed him through the peephole, she decides that it would be best to just open the door and deal with his presence later.

Now opening the door, Johanna's very sure that she's never seen this person before. Nevertheless, she introduces herself to this blond-haired, green eyed teen, who she'd guess is no older than her own daughter. "Good evening, uh…"

"Johanna, I can't believe you don't remember!" he exclaims, his voice deeper and to this point hiding his authentic identity given that much of his transition to adolescence took place behind bars. She never got to bear witness to his growth spurts and change into adulthood like she did for Barry, Leona or her own daughter.

"I—I'm sorry," she admits, not seeing it at all in the teenager. "I don't seem to remember _you_. Now's really not a good time."

"Oh, that's not true, Johanna," he retorts. "What do you mean, now is not a good time? How can you say that to someone who's been waiting for…twenty-seven whole months for this moment?"

'Twenty-seven?' Johanna thinks…and then it hits her. It makes sense now that she gave it some thought. Twenty-seven months was the amount of time he spent in jail for his drug offenses and now he's back? "Kenny?"

"You're right," he sternly affirms. Without warning, though, he transitions back into his role of master in control and haughtily proclaims, "I'm back!"

"But you're supposed to be serving parole!"

Shaking his head, Kenny says, "Uh…no. That shit's not for me, Johanna. I can't be held back any longer than I have been by you and your lying ass daughter."

"Hey!" she contends. "I don't need to hear that nonsense from you, all right? You went to jail, you paid your dues and that should be it! Anything else that you think you're gonna get from me coming back here and…somehow trying to get revenge on Dawn or myself is not gonna mean much if I go back here and call the police."

As Johanna turns around to shut the door behind her and leave Kenny behind without another word, he chimes in that "You're not gonna call the police," which doesn't leave Johanna still in her tracks until she hears a metal click of some sort. While she would obviously have to turn around to be absolutely sure what that was, she knows that the sound of that would likely come from a cocked weapon, most likely a firearm.

Kenny does indeed have his gun out, knowing full well that Johanna would stand her guard as long as she possibly could without risking her own life in the process. At this point, Kenny, not knowing that there is someone else in the house, decides to take some time and just toy with his hostage and poke the older woman in the back with the barrel of the gun. She's held there, though; the slightest squeal to Bryan waiting patiently in the house might trigger Kenny to go after him and get him involved when it's hardly necessary.

Wanting to restore order around the premises, she asks a key question. "Just what do you want from me, Kenny?" And, again, though she hasn't looked back, she's certain that her next statement is on point. "There's no need for you to use that gun on me. If I'm killed, then what good am I to you?" This question gets asked without Johanna seriously considering making any rash movements to either alert Bryan about the real mess she's finds herself in.

"You're right, actually," Kenny admits while he crimps his head over to his left side. "You're no good to me dead, which is the truth. Besides, I'm not even trying to get you. You're not the _bitch_ who lied on the judge's stand and sent me away. That would be little you."

"I want you to know that I resent you calling my daughter that, Kenny."

"And I resent having to put on this disguise like I'm some albino hitchhiker so that I wouldn't get spotted and wind up where I vowed to God in heaven I'd never go again. Seriously, what's it to you _what _I call Dawn when I have a gun here and I'm not afraid to do what it's designed for? I just want to know..." he says, leaving his intentions a mystery for a few seconds before he leans forward. His mouth is getting an earful of Johanna right now, but he could care less how she feels about him heavily breathing on one side of her head. She's terrified, and that's mostly what matters to him because he can get his way from a person who's scared out of her mind. A few more deep breaths out of Kenny and he finishes his previous question. Seemingly dangling there for almost half a minute he finishes it off with a cry of "where the hell is she? That's all I want to know. Tell me where she is and I won't take a single hair out of its proper place. Just tell me where she is, get me in contact with her, and you will be spared."

Was he high? No self-respecting mother would ever leave such a proposition to chance without a fight. "Not a chance in hell, Kenny," she answers with her back still turned to the teen. "I'll say it again; if you think you can just barge in here, order me around and tell me what I will and will not do with the information about my daughter's whereabouts, then you're crazy. I won't just let you have that without so much as a question of what the hell you want from her when you find out where she is, which you won't."

Then, out of the blue, the part of the conversation that never was in this conversation opens the door and walks toward Johanna. "Hey, Johanna—what the…? Who are you and what is the meaning of this?"

Kenny, quite thrown off by the appearance of Bryan, nevertheless shifts the direction of the gun from the back of Johanna to the neck area of Bryan. "Just stay right there, buddy," Kenny warns him, not wanting to go to the next step with this gun at all. "Don't move an inch. This thing is loaded."

"Who in the hell are you, anyway? You're actually threatening me with that thing?" Bryan asks, remembering this teen from the bus stop as he was the same odd-looking kid who ran into him when he looked to be in quite a hurry.

"Look this has nothing to do with you, at all!" the teen speaks, not wanting any more people involved in this problem then there already are. "Johanna has information that's she's been keeping from the Sinnoh region's attorney's office for the past three years that she willingly held to keep Dawn Berlitz out of prison. The only way for justice to truly be served is for both her and Dawn to admit that they lied. I don't expect them to do that just because I asked them to, so I brought my little friend here as a moderator."

Slightly shifting the gun back into its original direction while still keeping an eye on this third wheel playing an impromptu rule of 'spoiler' in Kenny's plans, he continues, "After all, Johanna, I have a stake in this given that I nearly died in jail four times and I _know_ you know that because my parents blabbed about it to you just like they do everything else. I was so hyped at just the thought of seeing you two again, that I'd have to vomit out all my meals. I would pass out so often from not having anything to eat because eating wasn't as important as getting right back here. I was suicide watch for a while even though that was the last fucking thing on my mind while in the pen. I was determined; so much so that I damn near missed the opportunity to finally have this moment where you and little miss girl-next-door got your comeuppance after building up so many half truths just to cover your lying tracks." Still keeping his eyes on the gentleman, Kenny makes the point that, "You wouldn't know anything about that seeing as you've been gone for the last eleven years…Bryan."

While Kenny probably would've thought that the aforementioned man would be surprised to hear his name coming from someone whom he feels amounts to a near-complete stranger, he doesn't flinch or go wide-eyed; not even for a second. "No," he confidently responds, actually smiling in the face of this kid with a gun in his hand that could point it to his head at any moment's notice. "You see, that's where you're wrong…Kenny."

Speaking of unadulterated shock, it's all over the face of Kenny once Bryan said his name. He couldn't believe this admission at all given how much he's changed since his kindergarten years and especially given his disguise right now. This couldn't be right, though, right? He's not been around, so that leaves Kenny to the question of, "How did you know it was me…and how did you know about Dawn's situation?"

"Because you were at the center of all of my daughter's problems," he begins, "and I would've liked nothing more than to throw away your key and be done with your sorry ass for getting Dawn mixed up in all of your failures. While I wasn't there in my family's life, that didn't mean that I didn't care. Dawn got the help she needed, which was most important even if I didn't get to see her way though rehab or…recovery.

"Look, I highly doubt that most of this is even your business, but the fact is that you did have a big hand in turning my daughter into an addict, and for that there is no strand of forgiveness, Kenny. You coming back for…whatever reason is useless if I or my ex-wife make a call to the authorities and see if you have any right to carry that weapon or travel all the way up here from Hoenn."

"Hey!" Kenny exclaims as Bryan reaches for his pockets, presumably to grab his cell phone from out of his pocket. Pointing the gun towards the older male, he says, "None of that, first off! I already told your ex-wife, if you pull any funny shit and try to call _anyone_ while I'm here, then you'll have to answer to this pistol, plain and simple."

"You know, I highly doubt that you'd even use that while we're out here," Bryan admits. "I'm sure it makes a lot of noise, just like you because both you and the gun blow a bunch of fucking hot air. And, after all, most violent crimes do take place when the sun comes down and police can get here in less than five minutes time."

"Bryan! Goddamn!" Johanna exclaims. She feels that yet another one of his faults is really shining through right now. Even while he had his drug problems, Bryan was always quite self-confident and full of himself, especially when he knew that he was right.

"I'll be damned. From one loudmouth to another, Bryan makes a great point," Kenny says, replying to the comments made about doing this seedy deed in the dark, "so with that said, I want both of you to go inside right now. Come on," he implores while Johanna takes a quick look back at the gun at long last. "Yeah, it's the real deal, Johanna," Kenny comments while the two walk one by one to the couch and sit down, neither having any weapon to counteract Kenny's gun and neither interested in suffering a rash wound from a crazed kid.

Despite his feelings and mental state at the moment, Kenny still had the wherewithal to know that neither Bryan nor Johanna could attempt to contact the outside world or his plan would, in effect, be ruined.

Threatening each one by putting his gun to the other's head, Kenny successfully got both exes to hand their cell phones, pagers and other devices over to him. It just made sense as he had to regulate conversations for fear of losing grip of his master plan to the collective hands of Bryan and Johanna.

As he passed this speed bump and proceeded to put the phones into his backpack, he asks once more the question he wanted to know since arriving back in Twinleaf. "Now, I'm gonna ask this one more time and it'll be up to the two of you to either give me an answer or hold onto your word at the risk of you and your daughter's life. Where…is…Dawn?"

"Well, I'm gonna tell you this one more time, Kenny," Johanna hesitantly begins, much to the surprise of her ex-husband, "you aren't gonna hold the cards here and play around with any of us so you feel some sense of victory after four years of doing it to Dawn. That's the bottom line and love it or hate it, you're gonna have to live with it."

Looking Kenny in the eye, Johanna gets the sense that the young man is quite perturbed that he didn't get his answer. 'Well, that's just too bad,' she thinks as she keeps speaking to the troubled teen. "You're a convicted felon, you're carrying a gun and you think that I'm just supposed to give up the location of my daughter because of that? I know how it works, Kenny. No one else, not even Bryan, knows where she is, so you're stuck. It's the hard truth of the matter, man. That gun will only say something if I have something to say."

Kenny doesn't really look mad or angry at the moment. His look ebbs more of a contemplative thought process right now. Johanna is absolutely right on all of her points. If he shoots first and asks questions later, the answers may not come. While pacing back and forth in front of the former couple, he has to consider what would make Johanna give him the goods without anyone getting hurt right now. He would have to do something that touched the woman at her very core.

The thought was right on the top of his head. It could come to him if he didn't hear what sounded like purring off in the distance distracting him from this bright idea he was about to conjure up with to solve this problem. Thinking about it and looking off into the distance, Kenny sees what appears to be a basket in the kitchen and a Pokémon who sounds like she'd be able to sleep through an F5 tornado.

There lies his answer. "You really think I won't use this gun, don't you, Johanna? You think that, for whatever reason, I'm bluffing, right?"

"I don't think that you'll use that gun on me at all, Kenny," she affirms. "How can you when my lips are sealed and no one knows what you want but me? You hurt me enough and the secret dies with me. I'm that confident that you _won't_ go there."

Nodding as if he accepted this and knew that, he looks dead in the face of Johanna, with the gun to his side. "You're too right for your own good," he tells her and from there, Kenny walks out of the room and into the nearby kitchen towards the basket.

While Bryan is more content to sneak over to his phone to attempt to get in touch with the police while Kenny isn't looking, he gets distracted by what sounds like loud screeching; as if a cat were struggling with some matter. He doesn't even get to touch the phone as Johanna drags him by the hand over to the kitchen. Her worst fear has just been realized as she now knows just how far Kenny is willing to go to get his answers.

As they enter the kitchen, Johanna really makes her feelings be felt. With the pistol in his right and Johanna's Glameow tucked underneath his left arm, she exclaims "Kenny, you son of a fucking bitch! This time, you have gone _too_ far!"

"What's the answer gonna be, Johanna? Is your beloved Pokémon worth it if I don't even kill Dawn in a packaged deal?"

"That's inhumane, you fucking prick!" Bryan interjects.

"Like that matters to me now that I'm banned from possessing Pokémon for life!" he admits, shifting the gun from the direction of Glameow, to Johanna, then Bryan and around once more. While Glameow continues to struggle while in the arm of Kenny, he says, once again, "I told you two that I wasn't gonna leave this house without an answer to my question and I'm not! You might as well just tell me where she is, or someone _will_ die! At least by doing this, I'll get the chance of talking to her! That's all I ask, Johanna, and you won't even give me that!"

"Oh, like you're one to believe!" she counters. "Now, put my Pokémon down and stop talking this foolishness! I know it's not in you to kill a Pokémon, so cut it out, and I mean it!"

"You still don't believe me, even after all this time," Kenny says, questioning how he could come this far without Johanna wavering in any way to his demands, even with a gun planted against her head. It didn't seem real to him that she'd go this far, so he'd have to go there. No more flirting with whatever lines remained. He knew that if he were to reach his goal, he'd have to cross the line. "This gun, me coming back for revenge; it's all real, Johanna, and I'm sorry that I have to show you this the hard way but here goes."

Kenny points the gun to his left side, presumably to shoot Glameow with his finger planted firmly on the trigger. Johanna sees, or at least believes she sees, him begin to pull back and knows her limit along with the fact that Kenny appears to either have none or lost his. "The Seafoam Islands!" she screams, to some effect. The sudden outburst from Johanna directed the gun more to Kenny's center and a cabinet where she keeps her fine China. One shot was fired, doing negligible damage to the protective glass and a few plates; negligible because she thinks of what could've been lost and is fortunate given what was lost.

Due to the jarring impact of the gun being fired off, Kenny loses grip of Glameow, who escapes in near-record time out of the kitchen through the window, which Kenny doesn't even bother with. He instead relishes the fact that he was successfully able to open the door, even slightly ajar and learn that Dawn is in the Seafoam Islands.

Slowly walking towards both Johanna and Bryan with the gun pointed squarely at both of them, he says, "Now that we have a location in place, why don't we work out a way to contact your daughter. You said the Seafoam Islands, which doesn't have too many permanent inhabitants, so that decreases the number of possible places and homes she could be at right now. The only question is…which home? Who does Dawn know that is wealthy enough to afford a mansion there and could work out a deal with you to keep her appearance there under wraps?

"Could it be…I don't know—shot in the dark, her new…girlfriend, perhaps?"

"You hurt Zoey _or_ Dawn and I swear to God, you will regret it!"

"Oh, she's at Zoey's home?"

Flailing his hands up in the air, Bryan can't believe that Johanna has lost all of this information to Kenny as quickly as she has. While they slowly and deliberately walk back, he makes a point of letting his ex know, "And you say that _I_ have a big mouth."

"You know what? Fuck you. I'm not the one who got smart with someone carrying a loaded gun."

"No, fuck you!" he retorts. "You said that you weren't gonna tell where Dawn is, but you did, you did, you did!"

"And I thank you, Johanna," Kenny responds, not missing a single beat. "Now comes the next step. Get me in contact with her and I can probably guarantee that no one gets hurt. Let me speak to her, Johanna. I already know where she is so stop the games and just let me talk to her one on one. After all, there's not much damage I can do to her when she's so far away, but there is a lot that I can do to you if you don't fucking cooperate so hand over her number! It's over, Johanna! The cat's already out of the bag _and_ the house, so let's have it…now!"

Kenny keeps them moving back over to the living room, slow as they go they prod as he directs the ex-husband and wife back over to the couch, pointing the gun in between the two of them not taking a risk of either of them moving towards their phones or the door.

If there was any doubt of who among these three held the key, one would only had to consult the .22 in the hands of the madman before them.

The insane finally reigned supreme over this asylum and God help anyone who sought to overrule him in his current state.

* * *

A/N: And the hits just keep on coming! Kenny has Johanna and her ex-husband, Dawn's father, Bryan, held hostage. They're stuck and the only option, it would seem, would be to just give Kenny the information he wants, let him talk to Dawn and see how things progress from there.

Will it happen, plus what is the fate of Drew now that he's home and being given as much love as he is from his family and will Kelly regret Solidad leaving when she does?

Find out these answers and many more next time. Until then, this is Rave!


	27. Vacation: My Backup

A Confession Gone Awry

Drew heads back home to his family after the breakup with May. His mother, Gina, father, Lewis, and sister, Ryan, all come together to reassure him that he did nothing wrong and that the right person will eventually come along. Their primary objective is to cheer him up as he remains heartbroken to a point.

Solidad leaves Kelly's home to head back to Pewter City. Kelly is somewhat surprised at this and just got used to having her first partner around the house. Kelly says goodbye while she packs to go to May's home to confront her folks on their newly-revealed relationship.

Kenny got the materials ready and made his way to the Berlitz household. A person who got there long before Kenny was Bryan, the ex-husband of Johanna and father of Dawn. While he did want to talk about news reports concerning his teen daughter in a relationship with another girl, he also wanted to talk about seeing his daughter again and not just providing. He was an addict and cited Dawn's past problems with drugs as a reason why he should've been there _after_ he got himself clean. Johanna appeared to start to come around, but Kenny came by to hold them both at gunpoint to get Dawn's whereabouts. Johanna initially refuses to budge, but when he threatens the life of her signature Pokémon, Glameow, she gives in; much to the chagrin of Bryan and lets Kenny know that Dawn is in the Seafoam Islands with Zoey.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 27- Vacation Part 11: My Backup)

* * *

Back and forth she walks while in the waiting room. Delia can only do just that until she gets more information from the doctors about the condition of her son. She got a call during the early evening about his welfare and it was as if all the gods answered her prayers and gave her affirmation. They told her that a break in Ash's condition has taken place in that he's awoken from his coma. Immediately after hanging up the phone, she told Jessie about the news and they made the trip to the hospital to hear of any further information.

As they got there, a meeting with the doctors took place no more than fifteen minutes later where they explained the situation in greater detail than would be appropriate for an over-the-phone conversation. Doctor Sloan informed both Ash's mom and fiancée that while he had convulsions prior to the call, he was stabilized very quickly by the nurses on duty and calmed to the point that he was up, able to speak with the staff, walk around some with the assistance of a cane and have near-full range of motion in his extremities.

Sloan and his team had no way of explaining how this came to be the case. While he's cautious to throw around the word so casually, there is no other way to explain the condition and prognosis of Ash Ketchum than that it is a miracle. Despite this, he warned Delia that her son was not yet out of the woods. So many factors, both prevailing and potential, can occur and while the outlook appears positive, the doctors insist on monitoring him for about an hour or so before he can have visitors.

The reason given for this is that the conditions of patients who've experienced some form of head trauma have a tendency to be volatile. Delia reluctantly waits, if only to make sure that sooner than later, she'll see her only child. As she continues to pace and Jessie keeps sitting down in a seat with her head in her hand meditating over this most recent development.

They haven't said much to one another since riding to the hospital. Jessie just remains in deep thought while Delia makes numerous remarks to the unlikely turnaround in the condition of her son. "It's a miracle, Jess," she says once more. The comment breaks her thoughts, for sure, but perhaps it was for the best. It does break her concentration, but she'll attempt to convince herself that it's a good thing, if only for a moment.

She raises her head, her face appearing neutral in the midst of this scenario to hear Delia add, "Don't you get it? It's fate. This is meant to be, Jessie. Ash's work is not done here. He's supposed to get married to you and have a family. This…I hesitate to even use the word but person—this person, whoever did this to my son, failed because everyone kept saying that Ash would never get out of his coma or if he did, he would end up as a vegetable. The doctors can't explain it; the experts can't explain it, and why? It's not something that you can necessarily explain."

Delia is absolutely pouring out her heart to Jessie. The emotion is clear, too. The tears running down her eyes are most apparent but Jessie continues to just look at her, appearing to be the antithesis of what her future mother-in-law is feeling at the moment. She doesn't have the same look and feel because something else is on her mind that she knows would make Delia upset if she started to go off on this particular tangent.

Ash's mom notices that Jessie does not share the same sentiment or feelings. Delia knows that Jessie really cares about Ash and is a very emotional person; leading to her assumption that something is weighing on her mind at the moment if the mere fact that the doctors have said that Ash is alert and awake can only make her think and wonder. Delia figures it's about time for her to do the same. "What's wrong, Jessie?" she questions.

She looks as if she's dumbfounded by that inquiry from Delia. 'What's wrong?' she asked her. How could she count the ways would be her reply if she felt that her mouth did not curse her so much. Hearing from the woman who allows her to call her mom, Delia figures that before she knows it Jessie will be hearing from Ash and their lives can return to some semblance of order.

How long could she possibly give this woman, who's given so much to her and others in return, the cold shoulder? The answer turned out to be not nearly long enough. "Ash is up; that's if we're to believe what the doctors tell us. They tell us he's awake and alert and yet we can't see him."

"Only because he has to go through a battery of tests to really make sure he's all right," Delia responds, defending the hospital's practices. "They won't release him unless every base is covered and I'd want nothing less but the best for my son."

"I understand this, Delia," Jessie speaks, "and when I finally get to see him, it's gonna take a lot for me to not smother him in the biggest hug I can muster, but when I do see him and when he does get released, there are a lot of people, not withstanding myself, who will have a lot of questions about _why_ he ended up in the hospital in the first place—more specifically, who the hell put him there."

For the older woman, the seemingly indifferent view of her soon to be daughter-in-law now makes sense. The feeling can be traced back to the first time they all saw Ash in the hospital bed and unconscious while hooked up to several breathing tubes and life support machines designed to make sure that he would be able to survive. That all took place on a Thursday and even though it's only two days later, the images have a lasting a powerful effect upon those who see it.

Jessie was not alone in feeling anger and sadness when she looked at Ash, but she was by far the most vocal and apparently the most vengeful as well. It came about as she couldn't figure out what would make someone want to go as far as to actually kill her fiancée. Sure, Ash had a great deal of wealth through business deals, endorsements and money earned through over a decade of training, but rarely did he ever seek trouble or attempt to find enemies in his quests.

It seemed like a senseless act more than anything else and that's the only excuse the two women can think of right now. Neither can fathom the very complex story of Ash Ketchum for he's kept the details of his many sordid affairs locked away and hidden for no one to see. While his actions have had some contribution to the reason why he's been in the hospital for several days, the two most important women in his life have no clue that this is the case.

For now, though, as they continue the waiting game, Delia can only leave Jessie with parting advice, saying, "The authorities, I'm sure, will work as hard as they can to find out who did this to Ash. For now, though, it's best that we remain strong for him and for ourselves. After all, if he sees you like this it could trigger some unwanted flashbacks and…I don't know what that would do to him but I doubt the feelings would be welcome."

"You know how much I just want to wring the neck of the son of a bitch who did this to Ash," Jessie says matter-of-factly.

Delia turns around and wraps the younger woman into a big hug. There was little in the way of misunderstanding between the two as their intuitions often led one to knowing what the other had on their mind. That was most of the time. Seldom did they have to spell things out for the other, but in cases when one appears to act out of character, they'll often have an explanation for such behavior. "Jessie, I feel the same way you do, to be honest," she says, much to the surprise of the former crime operative. After all, hearing that an otherwise docile and caring person wants to do the same things she's spoken about since seeing Ash in his comatose state.

It's interesting just to hear that kind of admission from Delia, but Jessie feels a need to dig deeper. "We feel the same way about this sorry excuse of a human being, but…why aren't you expressing it like I am? I…much to my own shame, have been cursing; yelling, screaming and you have been…the antithesis of it all. How do you keep it together in the face of all of this?"

Smiling back at the younger woman, Delia had a sense that the conversation would go in this direction. "It's not easy, Jessie," she tells her. "You haven't seen me during these last few nights. Some would be better than others, but I would often cry myself to sleep and think of a life without hearing or seeing my son ever again. It's not something I ever want to experience for real, but it's all part of the risks he's taken to get where he wants to go.

"Even when he was a young boy you and I knew he was taking part in a dangerous occupation. When you want something as badly as he wanted to be a Pokémon master, though, the best thing you can often do is just let him go. The government—they do what they can to make sure that our trainers and coordinators are safe and the job they do is superb, but they can't do it all and we can't expect them to, either.

"I've lived these past thirteen years trusting my son to do the right thing and hoping to heaven above that my guidance and parenting would rub off on him. I can point to his relationships, his lot in life and I can say to myself I've done well, but I just can't be certain of that given what happened to Ash. This was an attempt at _murder_, Jess. Somebody stooped so low as to think that my son should die. They had to have had a reason. Could Ash really be responsible for someone wanting to kill him?" Sighing, she feels a headache coming on and can only conclude that the thought of Ash involved in some sort of foul play is causing this pain.

Jessie struggles to even begin to come up with a response to such an inference. "I…I don't…I don't even think it's worth it to think about that if we hardly know anything behind this act." Delia looks back over at Jessie, somewhat surprised to hear that come out of her mouth, and hears her elaborate, "I'm taking a page from your book here, mom. It…won't do us or this investigation any good if we flew off the handle or jumped to a rash conclusion about Ash if we truly know nothing and I can sit here and honestly say that all I know is that I want the head of whoever did this to the man I love and that's it."

Whatever else would have followed in this conversation never takes shape as Jessie and Delia hear the sound of a older gentleman saying hello as he comes inside of the waiting room with two younger males who are about the same as Ash.

"Professor Oak!" Delia exclaims. "Gary! Richie! Thank you all for coming."

"Of course, Delia," Samuel responds. "You know that we'll be here for Ash no matter what."

"We were all so glad to hear that there's been a break in his condition, too," Gary adds. "None of us expected it, but we're not complaining. It'll be great to have my friend back nevertheless."

"I know," Richie agrees. "I'm nervous, though. He might be fine physically, but…a baseball bat to the head is just…I don't know. A lot of this seems too good to be true."

"I couldn't believe it myself, Richie," Delia admits, "but the doctors have no reason to lie here. Along with that, they're bounded by oath. So if they call me from my home to tell me that my son is out of his coma and showing no ill effects of the blow, then I'm encouraged. They may not know it all and they may not have all the answers, but they know better than you and I and have sacrificed for people like my Ash."

"We just have to have some patience for this one," says, of all people in the waiting room, Jessie. The three gentlemen and the lady look to the fiancee with awe, and she's not surprised that they do. Keeping a straight face and a good appearance in the midst of this gathering, she asks the party, "We have to have hope, right? This is the fruits of all of our praying and hoping that the doctors do everything in their power to make things right. Maybe…that's what should make the top of our priority list. I've done enough yelling and screaming to put a banshee to shame. If I'm serious about Ash recovering, then I have to be serious about being there and keeping calm for whatever happens next."

Everyone in the room can agree with that much and they nod their head and slowly take seats while they wait just a little bit longer for word on the condition of the young man the doctors are tending to right now.

* * *

The once violent convulsions have now subsided and Ash currently sits and waits as the nurses make sure to test every single part of him before they go any further in the process.

While once appearing to be hanging onto life by a thread, Ash seems none the worse for wear right now, even after looking like his pressure would skyrocket after waking up from his coma. This is no longer the case for him as he walks, talks, and moves as if he were the picture of health and not a man who just had convulsions.

As of this moment, Ash is getting both antsy and annoyed. Numerous times, he's asked to speak with his mother, his fiancée, his lawyer and the police and every single time, they've instructed him to be patient and wait. In his bashed-through but still capable head, he feels as if he's waited long enough. A coma will do that to a person and this instance is no exception. He can only gather that he will not be allowed to speak to any of these people until the hospital gives him the green light.

For now, though, as much as he might despise it, he waits. As a form of consolation, his party has been advised that he's awake and alert. If he could have none of the requests that he asked for upon his return to life, he's happy that he at least gets that. The news that he's physically fine outside of some infrequent aching in his head makes him feel confident that the truth can finally get out.

While it might mean the worst for his reputation and he might have to face some added consequences as time goes by, he's got a shot at redemption that many only dream about receiving. Speaking with Neewteb-Ni in what he was told is a form of purgatory made him consider what harm keeping his many secrets would do as opposed to letting the truth be told and having the chips fall where they may. After finally admitting to his problem and understanding that he had as much to do with falling into a coma as May did, he understood that this path he was following was the best one to take for him and the people whom he loves.

It's heartbreaking and is bound to open up even more questions than answers, but if it means he can save his relationships from irreparable ruin, then so be it.

Ash Ketchum will tell all, even if it does hurt. The matter of these nurses telling him where to go and what to do, however, is sorely holding up progress. Since it won't hurt to ask, Ash does so, openly wondering, "How much longer is this gonna take?"

The nurses give him nothing but straight talk and inform Ash that the tests they are running will take another hour or so. The head nurse, he could tell she was the one because of her oddly-shaped hat, told him that, "Monitoring your brain activity is of the utmost importance. Should anything happen and you slip in terms of your progress, we have to be on top of that and that's why we will keep tabs on you for a while. Once we finish with that process, though, we'll move you out of intensive care and into a recovery bed until we clear you to leave. In due time, though, once we finish these tests, you can speak with whomever you wish."

That's all he wanted to know. Now that he's gotten this news, even if it wasn't necessarily what he wanted to hear, he can prepare to speak with all the relevant people about matters that he wishes to resolve and clarify. Thanking the nurse for giving him the answers to his questions, he cooperates from then on with the instructions as he knew that his requests will soon be fulfilled.

A little patience and he's bound to go as far as the information inside his rattled and concussed head will take him.

* * *

"You know, I really, _really _don't have time for any of your games, Johanna," Kenny explains to the older woman sitting on the couch with her ex-husband. "From what I can gather, because I knew you couldn't just keep a straight face about this, you knew that my release was pending. Your daughter, however life-trodden and experienced she is in spotting the evil now is still that innocent little girl you continue to worry for; this time for much more radical and real reasons.

"It's all right, to be honest," he admits. "I'd want to do the same for my own children, if I'm ever in the right position to have any the honest way." Johanna wrinkles her nose at that remark. She's never heard anyone talk about having kids in such a morose and deadpan fashion especially for someone who, in all likelihood, has no interest in having any; at least not in the near future. "But as much as she can't run from the truth, neither can you! I know where she is, thanks to your runaway tongue. Getting in contact with her is just gonna quicken this process, which is best for _everyone _involved, so just remember that when you think about your decision…and do consider matters of time, as well. We are an impatient world, after all."

At this point, for whatever reason, Johanna just thinks that Kenny is either starting to crack or is showing cracks as he attempts to get information out of her and Bryan. The two have been on the couch together for about thirty minutes under the order from the gun-wielding maniac to not move or touch any electronic device that will allow them to contact the outside world.

Not budging since she revealed that Dawn is in the Seafoam Islands and with Zoey, she tries to keep up appearances for the sake of her daughter, her family and her dignity. Despite this self-consciousness, she is scared for her life. She knows that Kenny could easily zero down the few residents in the Seafoam Islands to find Zoey's residence, but might be using tactics to keep her and Bryan on their respective toes. It's an odd scenario; more than most would ever dream of being in, but it's where she is right now.

Johanna gets the feeling that she doesn't have to put up with staying in this position forever. Sure, she could give in to Kenny's wishes and leave whatever happens next up to fate. That might be the worst of scenarios for her and Dawn, but it would allow Johanna to regroup with Bryan and come up with some sort of strategy to knock Kenny from his perch of power.

"I'll take all day and night if I have to," Kenny reminds the mother of his former friend. "You can just stay on that damn couch and take care of whatever nature might call you to do, or do what the hell I said do. I promised you that Dawn will be fine, and I intend to stick to what I said. She's no good to me dead if her secret dies with her. I'd rather her be right here with an officer nearby so that the world will know her for exactly what she is; a liar and a fraud."

"You know you've said that a couple of times already," Johanna remarks while taken aback by this kid's latest comments. Here is where she attempts to work some psychology into the conversation and hope that it does its job with the subject Kenny Dalton. "I don't want to believe a word that comes out of your mouth, though; that's for certain. But I don't trust you if things don't go according to plan. If you find that Bryan or I decide to take matters into our own hands, it could end up ugly."

"Not 'could', Johanna," Kenny corrects, making sure to look her right in the eye when he says this to erase any and all doubts. "Things _will_ get ugly if you and your ex-husband even attempt to cross me. So just let me speak with Dawn. Seriously, Johanna. I don't want to kill her. I just want justice to be served."

"Do I have your word that you don't want her head?" she suddenly asks Kenny. Bryan, who was already attentively hearing the conversation, only perked up that much more upon hearing that inquiry from his ex. Then, he looks over at Johanna wondering just what's on her mind to cause her to ask something that would lead a person to believe that she would give in to a madman like the punk teen wielding a gun in her house and making demands.

Kenny has to take a step back and consider what's happened to this conversation. Did Johanna actually hint something to the extent of giving in to him? While he ponders what's become of this discussion, the mother of his sworn enemy continues, "I mean, while I don't often admit it to the likes of people like you, you make a fine point."

"Johanna!" Bryan exasperatingly exclaims. "You can't be serious! Even if he had explosives up to his neck…why do this?"

Not even bothering to look her ex in the eyes and explain herself, she just says, for the teen and the gentleman, "Eventually, we are all gonna have to get some sleep. I don't trust you, Kenny, and I don't trust my ex-husband to take some action to get the authorities involved in putting you exactly where you belong. That is where I have to draw the line. For that much, you do appear to be sincere because if he did call authorities, I have no reason to believe you wouldn't take it out on Bryan or I. That's where I have to balk and give in."

"But, Johanna…"

"No buts, Bryan," she refutes. "I can't have people heads on my conscious, especially if it doesn't have to happen, and it doesn't. I refuse to have someone die…foolishly just because someone feels it's a statement of their manhood to prove such a point. I'd rather risk my own head."

"Johanna, you don't have to kowtow to this asshole just because he claims to have something on Dawn."

Finally turning over to look at her ex-husband Johanna says, "Bryan, shut up! I swear I know exactly what I'm doing here. Even if Kenny had something on Dawn, it's not gonna matter once she gets here and sets him straight. Yes, I know she was an addict, but what else could you possibly hold over her that could get her nothing more than a warning?" Now looking over Kenny, she remarks, "If the only way to get you out of my house, off of my back and out of my life…for good is to give you Dawn, then I'll give you her number."

Bryan covers his eyes and much of his face, softly saying that, "You are off your fucking rocker, Johanna."

"That's all I ask," Kenny hesitatingly replies. While it is really all he wanted when he came, a part of this revelation feels somewhat hollow. Indeed, he wants to have this confrontation and badly, but he's been working for several hours in an attempt just to secure that much. To get it now has got him a bit frazzled as he doesn't know where to go from here, so he decides to wing it by claiming, "You're doing the right thing, Johanna. Dawn will be spared and so will you and Bryan. So, you see what happens when people cooperate?"

"More like when they're forced into cooperation," she corrects.

Putting his left index finger into the face of Johanna while still holding the gun, Kenny tells her to, "Hey shut the fuck up, all right? I'm sure you didn't want me to go back on my word, and I intend to keep to my word because I want it that badly. Right now, though, _you're_ the one who isn't living up to their standard because if you were, you'd give me her number."

Staring up at the combination of a stern finger and the barrel of a loaded gun, Johanna shows no fear. While there is indeed concern deeply laden in her mind, she doesn't show it to Kenny. Not here and now as the situation simply does not call for it. "Hold your horses, clown," Johanna says in her defense. "I just agreed to give you what you wanted not even two minutes ago. If I'm banned from getting up from this couch, then you'll have to rely on your memory to get this number right. Otherwise, I need a pen and paper to give you the number because I doubt you'll let me out of this seat to get that. Do you understand now? You'll get what you say you want, but that, like most other things in this life, will come in due time."

Stepping back, Kenny gets that while he has his cake, eating it might lead him to biting off more than he can chew. Nodding his head, he pulls out a magic marker with a fine tip and some notes which appear to be sticky. "Yeah, I understand perfectly, Johanna," he answers. "No need for me to have to leave you or your ex's side for long, huh? Not when you have every base covered. Now, how about that number, Johanna?"

Bryan continues to sit in his seat and take everything in from his position. Having been absent from his daughter's life but informed of all of her various ups and downs over the years has left Bryan in a most unique position of knowing enough to form an opinion on various matters but not being present enough to realistically factor other than in his obvious role as father of the youth in question. After this ordeal, he figures that things will have to change and he can only hope that Johanna feels the same way, but it's difficult to tell if she wants such change or not. Her attitude says yes, but her actions are not as clear.

Once matters smooth over Bryan has no problem asking his ex what will happen from here, but first they have to cross this one as Kenny puts down the number on a note and thanks Johanna for 'seeing things his way'. Again, the scene is quite cringe-worthy when taking into consideration the length Johanna went to making sure that Kenny could only come within a reasonable distance of her private thoughts. Her prized Pokémon, Glameow, got held at gunpoint with life threatened and she broke, but only somewhat.

Indeed, that deplorable scene of animalistic cruelty was shocking enough to cause a reaction as inward and visceral as Johanna's was, but it seemed that only a moment rivaling that one would take Johanna all the way to her breaking point. Of course, given the current situation, Bryan was disappointingly proven wrong and left wondering what happened to cause such a sudden about face.

Sure, it was getting late and everyone in the room was getting tired, but the lack of determination will and integrity shown by his ex-wife was a real disappointment to Bryan, who knows that Johanna can be about as strong-willed and stubborn as the best of them. This display didn't show him much of that as much as it showed him a picture of, shockingly enough, someone who has all but given up her responsibilities as a mother and her duties pertaining to her womanhood.

It was even sadder for him given that he could only sit and watch the scene take place while Kenny takes out a vial of some powdery substance, opens it, takes out some granules, puts them onto his right index finger, brings them up to his left nostril, inhales then shakes a little bit before putting the container away. He knew this process all too well, being a recovering addict. Kenny was fixated, for all intents and purposes, on not resting until he got a confession out of his daughter. Though the fact that he barged into the Berlitz house without warning while brandishing a pistol probably gave enough of a hint to it, seeing Kenny openly snort coke in front of him and Johanna convinced Bryan that the boy was not of sound mind.

He saw it, but he couldn't help but think something was missing. Bryan didn't become an addict until later in life, around early adulthood, when dreams became burdened by harsh realities and he forgot where he could always turn to in order to find love. That was his weakness, though he couldn't pinpoint where Kenny's was. Perhaps it was due to him not being a teenager in nearly twenty years or not knowing the full story of Kenny's struggles having been out of the picture for nearly a decade and a half. Maybe while he waits for Dawn to come back from wherever she is right now, he can get some sort of lead onto what personally ails this boy and get him some help before the influence becomes too potent for him and he truly crosses the line into the insane.

Going back to prison might be necessary for him, but not without first addressing his illness and unapologetically dealing with it. Bryan hypothesizes that Kenny can't hurt Dawn, Johanna himself or anyone else if someone intervenes, asks him to reconsider, thereby ending the madness.

Though he was quick to judge the kid at first, he remembers that the story came from Johanna, who's been the primary influence in Dawn's life the past twelve years. If she can claim that Dawn doesn't want to see him without even knowing about how far he's come in his recovery process or the fact that she went down that same road not too long ago, then something has to be very screwy about the story overall. Perhaps there is more to Kenny and Dawn than she's revealing.

In any case, while he's here for a while, he should find out what he can by asking some questions of his own, though as he sees the teen punching numbers into a cellular phone, he gets the feeling that he won't be getting answers for at the very least a few minutes.

* * *

It's like a green mile in some jaded respects. If the stares they get from Neale and Baker relatives are any indication, then most everyone has gotten word of the truly incendiary argument that the new couple, Zoey and Dawn, had earlier. Their focus really isn't on any of them, though. They have no strife with anyone as they walk to the house. Even those who might have taken issue or exception to their relationship like Zoey's cousin, Kristen, or her Aunt, Sienna, can no longer stand in their way. They are of no importance to either of them as of this moment because the most important appeal that either of them have had to make in their young lives is about to take place.

With much more meaning and substance than a Grand Festival, even on a great day, Zoey and Dawn walk to the house to appeal in the name of love. What's important to them is the business that's about to be conducted inside of the beach house where Zoey phoned her folks to let her know that she would like to have a private conversation with them about certain matters. This was right after the two of them chose to truly make up over by the beachside and affirm their feelings for one another in spite of their previous words.

As they get closer and closer to the house, the tensions and pulses of the two rise to what might be unhealthy levels. The increase in Zoey's nerves can be blamed on the meeting she had with her folks before setting matters straight with her sweetheart. Yes, it's a humid day and she is, indeed, sweating up a storm, but for more than just the moisture-heavy atmosphere. She's scared that her folks aren't going to buy that she and Dawn have buried the hatchet. For all intents and purposes, they still have issues to work out. They're still on the fence as far as that matter goes. Despite this, they remain on the same accord knowing that any ripple in their budding unity could mean losing grip of what is rightfully theirs in their love for one another.

Opening the door to the house, they don't speak to anyone inside with the lone exception of a few waves and salutations to people who say hello first. The only way they could have things go properly is to keep focused on the planned meeting upstairs. This, however, doesn't stop people from wanting to pick at the brains of the couple on the rocks.

Speaking of rocks, there was one face Zoey thought she would see while walking upstairs that she didn't among the many familiar faces. Upon no longer deciding to focus on her family in the living room, she makes a beeline with Dawn to her parent's bedroom only to find someone in their way.

Before Zoey can say something to her oldest sibling, Dawn takes the more assertive route, telling her, "Get out of our way, Rocky. We have business to take care of that doesn't concern you."

"Zoey," Rocky speaks, knowing that she wouldn't have much time to speak, replies, "I believe you. I think you and Dawn should stay together. You belong with one another."

Dawn remained largely unmoved by the words of Rocky, with the exception of a passing eye roll, and few would blame her given the circumstances of the past week. Zoey, however, has a different take on the matter and just before Dawn can knock on the door of the Neale's bedroom, she responds to her sister's words by looking at her directly in the eye, excusing herself for a moment and saying, "Sooner than later, Rocky, you're gonna have to tell mom and dad." Zoey did her best to make sure that Dawn either didn't hear or didn't pay much attention to her words at that moment. The ambiguity in the hallway at the time was for Rocky, who Zoey was certain didn't want her business exposed flippantly through her otherwise assuring words.

Rocky got the sense that it would come to this. Throughout this entire ordeal and Dawn entering their lives the way she has, it's forced her to come face to face with her own feelings and have to expose matters she would rather keep under lock and file. Zoey has other ideas, though. Rocky figures that in her sister's head the theory if she was able to come out to her folks while barely just a teen, then Rocky can do it well into adulthood with no problem and the assurance that mom and dad won't disown her due to her admission.

But she has her doubts. What would her folks think knowing that she's held this secret for so long and also knowing that her sister didn't have to suffer alone the feeling of same-sex attraction? Zoey can sense the uneasiness laden within her older sibling and before Rocky can even offer a word of protest, she walks up to the depressed young lady and wraps her up in a legitimate embrace.

Not knowing of the magnified bond that the two now realize they share over the past couple of days and not learning of just how close the two sisters have become, Dawn doesn't know what to think of her girlfriend and vindictive sister hugging one another. She'd love nothing more than to accept this great show of emotion, but more action on her part would have to happen. Being raked over the coals more than her share of times by Rocky is the reason for this enhanced yet still implied pessimism, but if Zoey had no problem instigating a hug with her sister in spite of their history, then something must have developed between the two that she never sensed.

Dawn ponders this, but she nearly misses Zoey putting on a harder squeeze, saying, "I love you, sis. You can do this, do you hear me?" The teen still doesn't know what Zoey is talking about, but spots something odd as Rocky begins to slump in her little sister's arms and appear to curl up into a little ball; a shell of her near six-foot tall frame. It had all the trappings of a young and terrified child finding solace in the arms of her mother. Rocky even appeared to shed a couple of tears, which Zoey promptly wiped away.

"I don't know if I'm ready, Zoey," Rocky honestly tells her. Having been in the closet for as long as she has, it's been comfortable she would like to believe it would be simple enough as to say 'Mom and dad, I'm a lesbian', but nothing is as simple as the words used to describe it. Rocky knows this but Zoey senses it, knowing the ill feeling being in the closet gave her, even if it was for a year or so and during what would already be a very awkward period of adolescence.

She can only imagine what it would be like for her older sister having held onto this secret for more than a decade and not knowing how to deal with it other than to guard her orientation like a hawk and hope no one suspects the truth.

"You're scared, I know," Zoey replies much like an understanding parent would. "It's okay to be scared. I was absolutely _terrified_ when the inescapable came, but you know what happened? I did it. I told them and a weight got lifted off my shoulders like you wouldn't believe. The same can happen to you, but you have to tell them."

Then it hit Dawn, like a light bulb being switched into its 'on' position, the thought came to her and the teen put the pieces together. Rocky and Zoey had more in common than anyone could've figured. Considering this new knowledge she's gained, Dawn feels bad for the young woman, if only just a little. She couldn't imagine having to come face to face with her fear of revealing herself to her family after so many years of living a half-truth. Granted, the majority of her family consists of her mother, but even that was a trial in itself wrapped into a desire to also express her independence.

Thankfully, for Dawn, she had her backup by her side when she confronted her mother. That made the entire scenario much better for her to handle because of the assurances of her girlfriend. If things went in any direction that was non-positive, she would still have Zoey by her side through her quarrel. Dawn figures that Rocky might have to have Zoey or another confidant to be her backup if she's not up to letting her folks know what's been on her mind on her own.

She does feel bad, even if her face doesn't exactly show it, but then Dawn hears more of the redhead. Rocky wonders out loud what will happen, but Zoey assures her, "You'll never know until you say something, Rocky. That's just how it is. I'll tell you this much, though. You won't regret it; not at all. Rocky, look at me," she then requests of her older sister, holding her head in both her hands. "Listen to me. This is going to be one of the best decisions you make in your entire life.

"Deciding to be honest with one's self and taking responsibility for whatever happens in this life is the first step to maturity. Owning up and admitting that you have an issue is what this comes down to for all of us. It happened to me. I got help in a wonderful support system of curious and questioning young women, and I came out the better for it. Now it's your turn. Do I regret that this didn't happen sooner? Yes, I do, but not for me! I regret it for you, Rocky, because you haven't gotten to experience what it's like to not be afraid. You can't live life in fear. I won't allow it; not when the sister I know would bear the brunt of whatever happens."

From there, all that's heard are the deep breaths in the room. They're coming from Rocky, who while wrapped up in her sixteen-year-old sister's embrace, ponders every word which just came out of her mouth. Zoey made great points throughout their exchange. Few things in life have stopped her from achieving whatever she wanted to do from writing to journalism. So what's become of her right now that she feels it's best for her to fall into the arms of her sister, eight years her junior, and spill out her heart.

She'll have to do something, that's for certain. While about the house if Rocky ever feels the emotions of not being honest with herself start showing, people will begin asking questions. There are no greater critics than family and that can be for better or for worse. Releasing her embrace, she gets a sense that she's not faced with something so terrible any longer. At least, that's what Zoey seemed to get across to her as she nodded her head, wiped her face and said, "Okay, Zoey. You got me. No more excuses. I gotta do this and come out to mom and dad, for better or worse," Rocky, not caring that Dawn was less than ten feet away from her, declares.

Nodding, Dawn looks over to Rocky, saying, "I had a feeling something was going on in there." The tone of her voice did not sound condescending or negative, which surprised Rocky a bit.

With her head down a bit, she takes the time to admit to her sister's girlfriend, "There's no excuse whatsoever for how I've been acting these past few days. Of _all_ people, I should know what it feels like to be afraid of what others might think. I guess having not seen Zoey in a while given her constant traveling left these silly feelings dormant in me that I never addressed because there was never a thought to coming out. The minute she comes in with a love interest, though, I explode like Mount St. Helens because I always got the sense that it was wrong and that I should reach out, offer advice, or just…help due to the simple fact that I've been there and done that, but I didn't! Even in the midst of all of that, I treated you like shit and that was wrong, Dawn."

"But why?" she asks, only somewhat curious given that Rocky seems to want to put the past behind her. With the truth being what it is, all Dawn _ever_ wanted was to do the same. "There had to be a concrete reason."

"And there was," Rocky replies, a bit too quickly for Zoey or Dawn's taste. Without missing a single beat, she continues in her explanation by saying, "and looking back on it, the reasons were stupid and just wrong. It stemmed back to some feelings I had when I was in my late teens that…it's best if I just leave it alone. It's very warped and complicated and my ego had a lot to do with this, as well. I just thought someone else was better for Zoey than Dawn, but I was completely off base given that my sister is old enough to make these decisions. It just took some time for me to get that, but I certainly get it now. Took long enough."

"All right," Zoey says, more than willing to leave this apparent resting dog in hibernation.

Some deep thought inside of her wants to put the pieces together and figure out what Rocky wants to let go, but another voice in the matter directs the conversation in an area where it probably should've went in the first place. "Well, while you and I might think Zoey is old enough to be in a relationship," Dawn intervenes, "there are some people who don't feel she's mature enough because of some lapses. It'll happen, you know? We're not perfect."

Rocky knows that Dawn is referring to her folks. Despite wanting to redeem herself in everyone's eyes, especially those of her baby sister, she's hesitant to just say yes and earn points through blind support. No matter how sugarcoated anyone in the hall would like it to be, Zoey did resort to violence against her girlfriend and that can't be taken away for anything. 'I love my sister and I'll respect her decisions,' she thinks, 'but both of them are so fucking stubborn. I get that Zoey has feelings for Dawn, but unless there's something else I'm missing, what makes Dawn so determined to do this now? Mom and Dad aren't gonna believe that they've turned the corner so quickly. They just won't, but…something's there. I know that much, as well.' Scratching her head for a bit, Rocky has to be straightforward with the teens and say, "You guys…you have an uphill battle ahead of you. If need be, you've got me as backup."

Zoey couldn't really ask for much more at this moment. She goes over to Rocky, gives her a hug and says, "That's all I wanted, sis. Now, if you'll excuse us, Dawn and I do have to handle this right now. There should be no more putting off until later what I'm sure I'm ready to do right now."

"Sounds great," Rocky admits, albeit with some laden hesitation. "Good luck, girls," are her final words before she walks down the stairs and back down to the party to leave them to their work.

Once she's downstairs, Dawn knocks on the door to Zoey's parent's room, where they've been waiting for at least ten to fifteen minutes to speak with the girls. Indeed, both of them have been thinking over in their heads just what to say, and feel an air of confidence, however faint, that they might convince the older couple that they are better working out their problems together than they ever would be doing so apart.

The folks on the other side tell Zoey and Dawn to both come in and lock the door behind them. Jo-Jo and Adman both sit by the foot of the bed and say hello while attempting to put up a positive face upon seeing both girls walk in together and their mood doesn't appear grim in the least bit. The adults are certain that the two know how serious this situation is, but they can't be too certain of many things in this life given the circumstances.

And then both of them see it as Dawn takes hold of Zoey's right hand and slowly nods her head. While Adman isn't sure if his wife saw it, as he looks toward her attempting to get some sort of read, he caught a glimpse of it and got the feeling that he would be in for a fight. Despite this realization, he's determined, along with Jo-Jo, to hold his ground and not cave to arguments from the girls without first giving Dawn and Zoey a piece of her mind. "Have a seat, girls," Adman tells them as they take chairs in the bedroom and sit next to each other while Dawn continues to express some symbolic unity by putting her arm across Zoey's shoulders.

All four of them sit…and wait and continue to wait for someone to say something. Jo-Jo looks around, finds the silence to be pointless and says, "I think…I should just say this and we can go from there. I really thought that we settled things, but Dawn, you do have the right to have a say in this given your role in my daughter's life." Taking a very deep swallow of saliva in her mouth, she focuses much of her attention onto Dawn, latching her eyeballs onto the Twinleaf native and not daring to let go until she makes her point. "Dawn, when I decided to have children and when I knew that I would be a woman raising girls, I made a promise to my family and I that I would raise my girls to be strong, independent-minded women. I raised both of them to not feel like they have to depend upon a man for all their needs."

For a second, Dawn chuckles and while she knows the reason why, she won't reveal it to the Neale's before Rocky has her chance. 'You did a damn good job with that one, Jo,' she ponders. 'Two of them don't want a guy and the other one practically—well, she knows she did her job.'

"At the same time, though," Jo-Jo continues, "I knew that I was eventually raising women and that these women, like all of us, should be respectful of one another and show that respect even to those that she disagrees with. Zoey knows, Dawn, that she can settle all arguments and disputes she has with people, especially those she claims to hold a deep and unbridled affection for, _without_ using her fists. I don't care what you did or what happened when it happened; no one deserves to get hit."

"I agree, Mrs. Neale," Dawn says, her use of that moniker and not Jo-Jo feeling foreign coming out of her mouth.

"You promised me, the both of you promised me, that you would protect one another," she reminds the teens, but this particular comment gets a special nod towards Jo-Jo's middle child. "What happens, though? You two get into a fight; an actual fight! I can understand disagreements, I can understand something happening between the two of you causing some problems, but no matter what, they are problems that can be solved without abuse!" Now pointing her finger towards her daughter, she tells her, "I said it before and I'll say it one more time; Zoey, you bitterly disappointed me when you told me what you did to Dawn. Don't you get it or did my inner fear about this relationship actually come true? The fact is using your fists was the coward's way out when otherwise good people have somehow run out of good ideas. It always has been and it always will be."

"I know, mom."

"Zoey, shut up!" she interrupts. "I'm talking!"

Having her mother interrupt her in that manner was a biting criticism of her snap decision from earlier in the day. Either because she knows that she would never have to feel it if she didn't cross the line or because she doesn't feel it too often given that she's away from her family for much of the calendar year, it hurt and she didn't combat it or attempt to defend it at all. It had nothing to do with defending her relationships as it did that she has no excuse. Knowing this causes her to put her head down while her mother recollects on the numerous fights Zoey has had with people who haven't taken her homosexuality well.

All of it served to remind her of just how much she's screwed up and how far she has to climb out of her hole for people to forgive her or start to truly trust her again. Sure, she could've used Dawn's numerous secrets and half-truths as a means of explaining what happened. Indeed, Zoey had cause to explain how Dawn has essentially been hiding information to keep herself out of prison, but none of that amounts to make a hill of sense as much as it equates to a complete cop out.

This is why the redhead just sits there and says nothing. Even while Dawn squeezes her girlfriend's hand harder and harder, she just sits there and takes the berating from her mother. She's not so much sadistic as much as she feels that it's warranted given her sins. Despite all that, though, Dawn looks over to Zoey to find something of strength or substance and all she gets is the sense that she's clammed up at the commanding voice of her mother due to her wrongdoings.

"You think that just because you've went through your various trials and just because people have stepped over you these past four years that it's somehow your turn because of that?" Jo-Jo honestly asks Zoey. "Banish the mere thought or idea out of your head, little girl, because you don't get that right. That's never something to be earned, Zoey, yet you come to us and say that you don't know what to do after you put your hands on Dawn. Why shouldn't I say you two have no business being together and forbid you from seeing each other? Why shouldn't I…" she has to hold her tongue and turn away while silently cursing any tears that may threaten as difficult as it might be for her. Knowing that her daughter went there and knowing full well that she's bound to scrutiny the likes of which most people in love never have to face, she still went there.

It made her sick to think that Zoey, under the microscope as often as she is, would lapse into this behavior. It was as if it wasn't her daughter who came to her and said she laid another hand on someone for whatever reason; she didn't care, though, but it was weighing on her mind to the point that the room fell silent and Adman decided to take over. He looks over to Zoey, eyes stern yet appearing that they could break at a moment's notice "You know better—_much_ better than this, Zoey. You want to keep—wait. You know that Dawn would have good reason to call the police and lock you up for what you did, right?"

Her head is still down and she's still not taking charge, perhaps because everything they've said is the truth, even though her folks haven't heard the whole truth. She nods, though before saying, "Yes sir. She would."

"At that point, Zoey, what do you think will happen? What will become—" he continues, but at this point, even Adman is left not knowing what else to say. He and his wife both let their sixteen-year-old have it earlier and he could tell that hammering the point in any further might result in overkill. He thought about that argument, but then again, Dawn hadn't heard from him and he had steam to let out as well. It's just that he'd already done it and knew that while Zoey did something seedy, it didn't make her evil, much less bad, making emphasizing how bas she was somewhat moot, especially since it seems that she knows it.

After a minute or so, Adman just throws up his hands and tells Zoey, "You know what? You just can't think this won't come without its consequences, Zoey. Quite frankly, I really don't know why you aren't in jail right now. I'm saying this as clearly as I know how; for what you did, you should go to jail, have your name plastered all over the media for a different reason than that kiss and then the cat will truly be out of the bag in the worst way imaginable. I love you dearly, Zoey, and I promise you that that will never change, but that's exactly what should happen to you if it only means that you get the lesson to be learned here through your thick skull. It's not my call, though; it's Dawn's and, for some reason, she's decided to spare you. Why? That's up to her."

"Because I'm no saint, sir," Dawn abruptly responds, though not really surprising the older folks in the room. "I've done my share of dirt and sometimes the sense has to be knocked into you to make you realize that few things in this world are sacred and all will eventually be revealed in due time.

"I didn't get that, at first, but when crunch time came and the thought of losing Zoey came with the idea of the world I constructed around me falling apart at the seams, it all began to clear up in my head and…keeping secrets from her and everyone else just didn't get me anywhere. In fact, I really began to lose sight of reality. Not anymore though, and my reality tells me that while we're young, Zoey and I have a lot more growing up to do and if we do it together, we'll shoulder each other's burdens and come out the better for it…in more ways than one. Either way, Zoey told me that you think that it's best that we not be together right now. Well, as I'm able to speak for myself and offer my own opinion, I respectfully disagree with you and counter by saying that right now, at this very moment, we're stronger together than we'vebeen at any other point in the past week." Turning to Zoey, she checks for affirmation and inquires, "Right, Zoey?" to the older girl.

"Dawn, I think I should say this to you from woman to young woman," Jo-Jo speaks, getting a feeling of where this discussion is going. "I don't want you to somehow think that you are…obligated to stay with my daughter or think that you can't do better than her, because no one should have to stand by idly and take abuse for whatever reason. You've told me about how you and your past loves were involved with drugs and while I didn't think too kindly of it, you said that part of your life is behind you, right?"

"Yes, it still is," she reiterates, "but the thing is that I was a hard drug user for a long time and I made it my practical mission to make sure that nobody knew what happened to me. It was my business, but I somehow felt that I could keep it my business while I started to get serious with another person. If anything doesn't make sense to me, looking back on it, it's that naivety that I refused to let go of until I got driven to the brink."

"You don't have to defend this one, Dawn," Jo-Jo replies. "You made mistakes to yourself some years back. I don't want you to have to defend this behavior because you had slip ups as if no one in this world is guilty of that. Please, just think about it."

"But I've given this a lot of thought, Jo-Jo!" That point is further emphasized when Dawn tells her, "Zoey's apologized to me and I've forgiven your daughter. We had a long talk after what happened. Again, not everything's fixed, but we're working on it. If we were to somehow just stop what we've been doing, I think that will be detrimental for us."

"I'm not telling you that you and Zoey shouldn't see each other ever again," Jo-Jo says, defending her opinion on the matter. "But what's so bad about a break from each other? You know what they say about absence, am I right?"

Zoey nodded for a moment and, though she didn't notice it, Dawn saw her do this and questioned for a second what was on her girlfriend's mind.

Dawn is nowhere near as receptive to the words of the Neales. "I know what the saying is…I just think that there is a lot of work Zoey and I can do if we take control of our relationship. Quite frankly, I think we can do it better than anyone else. You want us to do the mature thing, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, this is the mature thing in all of its wrapped up wisdom delivered right to the two of you," Dawn announces. "You know? That thing where we all talk out our problems and listen to one another for once? That's exactly what the two of us did. There was no yelling, no one getting out of control and, best of all, no one putting their hands on each other with the exception of a hug. Was what Zoey did uncalled for? Without a doubt. I didn't like it, I won't accept it and she has a far road ahead of her before things can turn and this relationship can develop into something else if that's in the cards for us. But you know something? I put it behind me. I'm not dwelling on it because I egged your daughter on in some spots and that's not the way to get someone's attention either.

"No matter what, though, I'm standing by what I'm saying right now and that is that we're maturing and when people mature it's likely that they will make mistakes along the way. It happened and I know Zoey is feeling it right now. She's had enough, you two. Let's just…let _us _work through this and I know there won't be any regrets from here on out. I just…have a feeling in my heart that it was one time and one time only."

"Dawn, I hear you, I look at you, and I can't help but think that you're being sincere," Jo-Jo admits. "I just have these concerns and feel that if we take these steps, you two can avert even more heartbreak down the road."

"We're not trying to recreate Romeo and Juliet here," Adman remarks.

Jo-Jo quickly nods, saying, "Yeah, exactly! I'll just reiterate; we don't have a problem with you being with my daughter in the long term. Right now, we all have come to a general consensus that you two are in a bit of a bind and have suffered quite the setback. That's not something you should be afraid to admit. I just want you to keep your head up…"

"It is very much up."

"Just let me finish, Dawn," Jo-Jo continues, reclaiming the floor. "You have to know that there is never any shame in walking away. It's never happened to me, but I've seen and heard enough examples from friends and associates to know that it's unnecessary to stay and fix a mess that doesn't warrant the time or the effort.

"Remember, Dawn, I'm a schoolteacher and I see kids your age, and even younger than that, involved in relationships that they're clearly not emotionally ready to have. They put a ton on their shoulders and I feel that a lot of it is often just to show their parents exactly what you told me; that they're mature enough for romance. Sometimes it happens and I see that rare gem of a relationship take off from age fifteen or sixteen onward to a happy life for a couple. Other times, the relationship fizzles out because of life's harsh realities and then there are those other instances where we hit a truly low-lying valley. If neither of you, especially Zoey, is being sincere about turning over a new leaf and about this episode of violence being an isolated affair and nothing more, then I'm very afraid of what will happen next to the two of you. I hate to say it, but unless I can see some change in your behavior and if Dawn doesn't show me that she isn't afraid of leaving, it just looks to be another case of the victim and the abuser from where I sit."

Dawn raised her eyebrows not really knowing how to combat that type of warning coming from her girlfriend's mother. No, it didn't really come out of left field and yes, she only alluded to what could happen if every scenario Jo-Jo laid out came to pass. Despite all of these factors, it still hurt to hear that come out of her mouth.

She didn't know how to react. All Zoey knew is that she heard something that crossed the line. She sat and waited, having already received her punishment earlier, hoping that she and Dawn would combine their might and convince her folks to at least reconsidering the idea of them not being together while they work out their issues.

The moment she went back to confront her folks, however, she froze up under the pressure of having to feel their biting criticism again. She didn't want to compound her lapse in judgment with added strife felt between her and her folks. Zoey just wanted to continue to work on her business and handle it with the decency and privacy it deserved. She wanted it, but her mother pushed, resorting to buzz words as a way of somehow convincing either her or Dawn to go along with her plan like they were 'yes-women'.

Zoey could be guilty of a lot of seedy, backwards and just plain wrong things, but to go in this route just to make a point was far too much for this teen to handle. While wiping her face clear she first looks her mother in the eye and then stands up from her seat, determined to get a couple of things across to her mother and to make sure that she understands her position for better or for worse.

"Mom," she says directly to Jo-Jo, "I've been silent long enough about this. You don't have to spew out innuendoes to make me follow your directions, but seeing just how you want me to go about this, it might actually be better for me to step back, take a second and follow my gut. You called me an abuser…yet you have no real idea of what that entails."

"Oh, I really think I do, Zoey."

"I beg to differ, mother," she responds. "I think what you just said was severely out of line. Calling me an _abuser_? Oh, that doesn't reek of hyperbole at all."

"I never said that you were an abuser, dear."

"I quote _you_, mom: 'It just looks to be another case of the victim and the abuser from where I sit.' Don't you think that's odd to call someone who made one huge mistake, which she's still trying to pay for in her own way, an abuser? I think it is because the word doesn't fit me like you'd like me to think it would.

"For one, an abuser takes on a pattern of behavior and uses this to rule over another person through a set period of time making matters for the abused a living hell. In my case, I lost my way and let ego take me over when there was no need to fall into such a foolish trap. With that in mind, I love Dawn and have for a very long time. Despite that, I don't need control in order to show this off. I've got about as much control over Dawn as you have over Rocky or Kevin at this point.

"They may go to you for advice, and rightfully so as you are mom and dad, but they are in control of their lives because of their maturity; that same maturity that we're trying to prove to you that we're using, mom and dad! But you want us to use a quick fix because you're so damn afraid that something will gonna happen again. Can't you just take me at my word when I tell you guys that it won't? At least I came to you with my issue and told you guys what was happening! I owned up to what I did and that should be enough! I already feel my punishment and have felt it since earlier today. What's left for someone who made a horrible mistake and just wants to put it behind her and move on? There's nothing left, and no matter how many times you may call me an abuser and make me feel horrible, it won't work because my actions have done all they can to make me feel like crap. I've had it, though! It's done and I just want everyone to make it done and let us work on our shit. That's it."

Turning around so that no one in the room can see her on the verge of tears, Zoey ends her plea to her folks to not have them break up and quit contacting one another. Knowing that she was living on a whim and a prayer with this request, she nevertheless made it in the hopes that her mom and dad would see the emotion laden within her and realize that there is much more to this relationship than being a mere teenage love affair, which she was sure her folks were familiar with back in their day.

Zoey is much more content with being left alone, but Dawn remains by her side while her body is turned from the discussion. Starting with light pats on the shoulder, she then gives her girlfriend a full hug, making it clear to her, "I'm not going anywhere. Do you hear me, Zoey? I don't care what they say or do, because I'm not in this to please anyone else but us. Fuck the world and let them think what they want from this point forward," Then, directing her next words towards her folks with a powerful glance in front of her at Zoey's stoic-looking parents, she adds, "We'll get through this together or we won't do it at all."

Their faces remained unchanged. Dawn just can't believe that she's getting _this _reaction from Jo-Jo and Adman. Their daughter poured out her emotions and they just sit there. It made no sense, so she decides to press further given that she has a lot more experience with the matter at hand. Releasing her embrace from Zoey, she takes a couple of steps forward and gets into the face of her girlfriend's folks. "You know, going back to the subject of victims and abuse," Dawn interjects, now standing up with her girlfriend and happy to have her on board while they plead this case together at last, "I know what it feels like to be victimized more than anyone else here in this room. Most of the abuse that happened came about because I was weak and I surrounded myself with equally weak people. That's my problem that I didn't deal with in my early teens because several things didn't go the way I wanted and I ended up pitching a fit."

Continuing, Dawn continues to add to her case, "Well, pitching a fit got me caught in an underground drug wave, left me an addict at the age of thirteen and caused a rift between me, my family, my career and my friends. It got to the point that people didn't even know who I was." Sighing, not so much that she's getting this out, but that she's using so much emphasis in these admissions, Dawn leads Zoey's parents to her main point. "Hell, I didn't even know who I was for a while, and a lot of that had to do with the _mental_ abuse given to me by the people around me and the physical abuse I gave to myself. You see, the fact is that no one—not a single person walking this planet Earth—can even come close to doing the damage to me that I did to myself while messed up on drugs.

"Again, your daughter—Zoey—hitting me? It's not cool and she knows it because she's shown me in our private thoughts and conversations that she knows it, but I'll be damned if I have to hear from anyone about being weak after all I've been through these past three years. I refuse to be a victim for another second because I could've lost my life and never would've gotten to feel what I have for Zoey. You see, Jo-Jo and Adman, your daughter is different for all the right reasons. If she came around at another time, or if she were someone else who found themselves in my life through odd circumstances, I'd probably drop her like a hot potato.

"If there's one thing Zoey is then it's lucky, because I see something in her that I never found in anyone else I claimed to have feelings for. She's special enough to me that I won't forget this, will hold her to her word and if she gets out of line again…well I doubt I have to explain what happens from there, but she knows. Nevertheless, I'll take care of things from here on out and that's all I really have to say other than calling your daughter an abuser was a sickening thing to do given the fact that she came to you for help and guidance during a difficult time of need for both of us."

"But she broke her promise, Dawn!" Adman reminds her. "To us, as her parents, and to you, as her love interest, she promised to take care of you as she would for her. If there's one thing she did, it would be abusing her privileges. She didn't live up to those and even went overboard, but that doesn't apparently matter to you."

"Oh yes it does, Adman," Dawn replies. "Believe me when I say it does and believe me when I say Zoey will understand how much it really matters to me. It just can't be overnight, I won't allow anyone else to dictate my relationships for me any longer and I certainly don't want to have to live up to some arbitrary, restricted standard just for a stamp of approval from my elders just because their child has brought them some measure of shame. I'd be more forgiving and trustworthy, _especially _now, because her learning the lesson the right way, and not necessarily your way, is worth it."

Dawn had a mouthful to say, but didn't get much back from the two other than some slight, ambiguous head nods. Jo-Jo probably saw it the moment she heard that Zoey and Dawn wanted to speak with her and her husband together. The stubbornness of youth is quite apparent in the young Berlitz girl along with a determination not to cave in under heavy burdens.

It is a form of strength, to be absolutely correct, but it came with the weakness of not knowing the art of negotiation and the fact that we all must answer to someone greater than us at various spots in life. "You see, Dawn, this is just where you and I disagree," Jo-Jo informs her daughter's girlfriend. "You may love her, and that might be enough for now, but I know it's gotta be hard to just forgive her for hurting you like that."

She'll admit it. "Yeah, it is, but I'm aiming to take this one day at a time."

"What I'm trying to get across to you, Dawn, is what I wanted to have you understand when you and Zoey told me about this relationship. It's not a right, because Zoey is still underneath me. She turns seventeen on the sixteenth of this month and eighteen the year afterwards. I'm not saying that I want you to wait a year, but just a month, Dawn! Thirty little days will pass before you even know it. Why won't you go along with this? I can't understand it!"

She doesn't want to back down. Not for Jo-Jo or Adman and not even if Zoey is convinced by her mom and dad. "Because I don't see the need to do…this! I don't think Zoey is dangerous and I doubt keeping away from her as opposed to us talking this over will make much of a difference. Hell, we've made progress! Why can't you see that or trust us when we tell you this?"

Exhaling, Jo-Jo would say that she's tried to barter with this girl, but Dawn remains like a glacier; mighty and unmoving only through time. The problem is, though, that it's time that she and her husband do not have while they continue to host this weekend-long family get together. "Okay, Zoey and Dawn. You appear to be set in your position to stay together. Well, I'll have you know that we're still set in ours. I personally think you're acting like a stubborn jackass, Dawn; both of you are if I'm to be honest. Being with someone is _never – ever_ a right. It's always a privilege and privileges can be granted or taken away. I don't care if I have to deal with Zoey crying every night because I do it, but just as you wish to stand by your word, I'll stand by mine and forbid my daughter from seeing you…"

"No," Zoey whispers.

"…or having _any _contact with you whatsoever for thirty days," Jo-Jo concludes. "That's her punishment and if it means I have to take away her phone, her cars, her e-mail—whatever it takes, she's gonna learn that her actions come with real consequences. If not now, Dawn, when does she learn? When she's in a jail cell?"

"It's not gonna get to that point, I just feel it."

"It doesn't matter," Jo-Jo rebuts. "It's too early to say either way what's gonna happen from here on out. So in this case, Zoey and Dawn, you're just gonna have to swallow your pride, or my punishment will be worse than it is."

Zoey shakes her head fervently and her parents have a feeling what's coming up. "I won't do it. I love you both to death, but no. I refuse to leave her. Not now."

"We are your parents, Zoey!" Adman reminds her daughter. "Whether you agree with our word or not, we expect you to follow it and you _will _follow it."

"I'll run away," she says while clenching her fists. The words surprisingly don't feel like an idle threat, but no one in the room, not even Dawn, is certain what's going through this conflicted girl's head. Then, she looks over to her girlfriend and asks her, "Are you up for it? We'll leave…take our own time and really fix this and not just try to brush it under the rug like some people want us to."

"Zoey, quit talking this nonsense and stop delaying this! You're only gonna make it worse for yourself and Dawn," Jo-Jo pleads with her daughter, finally getting up from out of her chair to look her middle child in the face. "Listen. Zoey, listen. I know you don't mean that crap about running away. Not for a second."

"If it means cutting myself from Dawn for that amount of time because of _one _isolated and admitted mistake, then yes," Zoey adamantly admits. As her voice breaks, she flat out admits, "I just don't get why I have to do this for your acceptance."

"That's the thing; you don't get it," her mother says, while attempting to give Zoey a hug. She remains stubborn and her mother exercises patience by saying, "Please, dear. Don't resist. I love you and I only do this because of that love for you." After some further resistance, Zoey eventually gives in and accepts the embrace of her mother with her father joining seconds later. "I don't mean to seem like a bad guy here. I'll say it again, I have no issue with you being with Dawn or any other girl, for that matter, but you've done something that has lasting effects on more than just yourself."

"We're saying that you might have used violence against your girlfriend and regretted that action, as you absolutely should have," Adman continues, "but this doesn't just affect this one relationship, this affects them all. This reflects badly upon you, but it also does the same to us. We are disappointed in you for that because we've taught you better than to use violence. For that you _must_ be punished, no matter how much it hurts, no matter how much you might hate it, it's just gotta happen, dear."

"Listen," Jo-Jo adds. "If you follow what we're saying here and do what we've asked you to, we can have that time reduced. That's if you do this the easy way. The hard way, with you threatening to run away and do whatever with Dawn, will cost you a lot more. Just trust me when I say that if Dawn is well worth the wait, you _will_ wait."

Her head appears to be in a permanent slouch as she attempts to make sense of the numerous thoughts swimming in her head while pondering exactly what to do from here on out. As Zoey is not in the best of situations with her parents and her girlfriend, she's thought about just going with what they say and hoping that their progress isn't somehow erased because of it.

Then Zoey feels the drive and the emotion that her girlfriend put into attempting to not push her folks further into punishing their sixteen-year-old. Dawn asked for her to be her backup as they went in full bore and asked to be spared and to work whatever remaining issues they had out like people in their position would. She didn't want to let her folks down, for sure, but letting her folks down would mean earning more respect from her girlfriend, which comes at a premium for Zoey, hoping to redeem herself in Dawn's eyes.

On the other side of that argument are her folks, who've been there for Zoey and her siblings much longer than Dawn by default. Despite their tactics, if she did keep her nose clean for some time, she could see her girlfriend much earlier. The punishment would be swift and, as they admitted, it would not be long lasting. Perhaps, in this case, mother and father truly did know best. That's if she accepts contrition even when the so-called victim refuses to allow her to accept full responsibility for this situation.

It is a difficult decision…

"Mom and dad," she begins while shaking her head and releasing the embrace. Her folks could feel it coming like a cold wind. "I'm so, so sorry, but at some point, I have to take a stand for myself. As much as it hurts me to do this, I'm going to disobey you and stick with Dawn no matter what."

While Jo-Jo and Adman can't believe that their daughter has seemingly done a 180 on them from just minutes ago, Dawn is absolutely shocked out of her shoes. She had her doubts as to Zoey's commitment to stick together was truly solid, especially when her folks dangled a figurative carrot in front of her and claimed to reduce the restriction if she remains a good girl in their eyes.

As Zoey walks away from her parents and towards her, it takes everything in her to not break out in laughter and tears all at once. She realizes that this is not what the Neales would've wanted, but she doubts that they will hold any significant grudges for a long time. If they hold to their word to one another, then it will be obvious; their way worked and the way of their folks did not. "You had me worried there," she tells Zoey.

"I just found that whole abuser argument and forbidding me to see you was…too much," Zoey reveals. "Why, when I'll be an adult before long? I just didn't see the need."

On the other hand, her parents are absolutely stunned and let the girls know it with their body language and Jo-Jo admitting, "I just don't know what else to say or do. I…don't get this and I don't like it. I really don't."

"Jo, I can't stay here," Adman admits. "Why should we take this? Our child openly and deliberately disobeys us. Why should we take it? Let's go."

As his wife says she's about to agree with him and make their way out to take a breather, loud ringing sounds throughout the room. Everyone immediately recognizes that as Dawn's phone and she pulls it out, looking at the display before answering the call.

Dawn notices the number of her mother on the display and immediately opens the phone, giving, who she believes is Johanna, a proper greeting.

"Hello?" she asks.

A second or so passes and then she hears, "Hi Dawn." She immediately got goose bumps on her skin. Even if it's been more than two years, there are some voices people just don't forget. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

The voice didn't sound threatening, but sounds, like looks, can be very deceiving. Her past has come back with a vengeance it seems, but how did he get on her mom's phone? How is he answering her phone? What's going on?

She doesn't allow herself the time to find answers to these questions, as she's in too much shock to even realize which way is up.

Dawn drops the phone, as it felt like it burned her hand to be near it and know the truth that was on the other line and the truth that just talked back to her after years of no contact whatsoever.

Kenny is back and heaven above help Dawn if he carries out threats from the past.

* * *

A/N: Oh, man! How long has it been? I'm amazed so many people have come along in the last few months to show support for this story. You all know who you are and you are very much thanked as you inspired me to get back into the swing of writing this and starting what will amount to the beginning of the end of this story.

By the way, I know Kenny dialed numbers from a cell phone at the end of his scene and Dawn got a call from Kenny from Johanna's house phone. The answer to what happened from there will be revealed in the next chapter.

Speaking of which, the next chapter will have more from the May and Kelly arc, plus the conclusion of that phone call from Kenny to Dawn and more turns in this complex story soon to come.

Until then, thanks for all this support and this has been Rave The Rich!


	28. Vacation: Never Truly Fighting Alone

A Confession Gone Awry

The waiting room party eagerly anticipates further information on Ash Ketchum, who just woke up from his coma. More tests need to be completed but during that time, Jessie and Delia ponder what would cause someone to make such a vicious attack on their loved one. Ash awaits for the time when he can call the authorities and make good on his promise to purgatory guide Neewteb-Ni and turn himself into police.

Johanna, through coaxing by Kenny, gives up the cell phone number to Dawn. Bryan questions these actions but the process is virtually out of his hands because of Johanna strategizing a way for everyone to get what they want. Bryan begins to internally show some sympathy for Kenny because he continues to use drugs while getting the key information from Dawn's mother.

Before meeting Jo-Jo and Adman, Zoey and Dawn come across Rocky who expresses fears of coming out and then apologizes for how she's treated Dawn in the past week. The meeting with the Neales is an emotional one, but Zoey and Dawn ultimately decided not to back down or give into innuendos. Even when they suggest a thirty-day break, they remain firm and ultimately aim to disobey Jo-Jo and Adman. They express their disappointment and aim to leave the property, but the call comes to Dawn from Kenny who is ready to confront his former friend at last.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 28- Vacation Part 12: Never Truly Fighting Alone)

* * *

The situation she finds herself in is certainly no game. Reaching down to pick up the phone does, however, feel like playing a round of hot potato as Dawn makes sure to not make any sudden moves as if the object would jump up and bite her at a moment's notice. Jo-Jo, Adman and Zoey don't really know what to make of the call as the unrelated made no mention as to who was on the other line and who caused her to fall into a momentary but obvious state of shock.

She refused to deny the voice of the person on the other end of the line, though. For four years, Dawn was unable to get it out of her thoughts. Finally she has no choice but to go ear to mouth and face this voice of Kenny Dalton who's been a thorn at her side since his trial completely exonerated her and sent him to jail for more than two years. She must face the voice that's given her chills since her days as a full-fledged addict.

Dawn can't live in fear anymore. She's made that decision by deciding to keep going with Zoey and to not be afraid of what others think. She can't control it, but this is a product of her own actions and because of that, despite the curious stares of the Neales, Dawn aims to fix this.

Bringing the receiver back to her mouth, she begins, saying firmly, "You have a lot of goddamn nerve calling this number, Kenny. Speaking of which, how in the world did you even get this number? How did you get to use the phone if you're supposed to be under house arrest, huh?"

"Well the first thing you have to admit, Dawn," Kenny responds while he watches Dawn's parents cringe on Johanna's couch knowing that he's gotten in contact with their only child, "is that you're asking me a very loaded question. You have to understand that I'm not all that used to answering questions as much as I am taking orders and doing as I was told lest I suffer dire consequences and found myself at the mercy of burly men with guns. You can imagine how drab a life that can be and how I can miss a few important points in translation.

"So maybe I do have nerve and maybe I do have every reason to be back behind the bars you and your mother intentionally put me behind almost three years ago. Maybe I am crazy to think justice can be served and those who do wrong get punished for it even at the expense of those who do perpetrate an even greater wrong. Maybe I'm just living on borrowed time after being on suicide watch and throwing up at the mere thought of getting to speak to you again and making sure that the truth is told and not some fabrication in the name of womanhood, mother-daughter bondage or whatever bullshit Johanna likes to spew to claim that her precious daughter was not as out there and as fucked up as I _know_ she was.

"Maybe I should be the one who should be asking you these questions, Dawn," Kenny concludes. "After all, I've been biding my time. It's _you_ and your alleged saint of a mother who have been dragging their damn feet for so long, but those days are coming to a halt if I have anything to say about it."

"Why aren't you under house arrest, Kenny? If you're as fucking slow as you claim to be from so many years behind bars, then we'll start slow and I'll ask you questions one by one. Now, I reiterate, why aren't you under house arrest according to the details of your court-ordered sentence?"

"Well, just like I told a certain someone, that shit is not for me, Dawn," he answers with no reservations. "More time added on because they feel like it? They happened to be on their cycle that day and I was their punching bag? No, fuck that. My sentence was for twenty-seven months and that's exactly what I did, so I am free from their tyranny and now it's just a matter of taking care of unfinished business. It's time to right a few wrongs if do I say so myself."

"If I call the police on your sorry ass, you'll have no business to take care of, Kenny. It'll be _over _for you if you think you can just reign over me making up these idle threats," Dawn responds, ironically as a threat herself because there are ways to go about this that she isn't sure of offhand.

While she's in this deep conversation with her ex-boyfriend, Zoey, Jo-Jo and Adman all look on with intrigue and wonder if Dawn is in need of some help on the phone.

She looks angry; that much goes without saying as the Twinleaf native turns red in the face while she paces back and forth in the master bedroom of Zoey's home with little to no regard for those around her as she continues to listen to her former friends' words.

Zoey finds herself torn in the middle of a personal, emotional tug-of-war as she watches Dawn deal with whoever is on the phone while her parents' hands also appear tied as the threesome split time looking between Dawn and themselves unsure of what direction to take.

If everything was on the up and up between daughter and parents the two would probably interject into Dawn's phone conversation the minute she yelled, screamed or said anything out of character over her cell phone. At this point, however, things are far from good between the three as right before Dawn received this mysterious phone call, Zoey vowed to go against the wishes of her mom and dad and not take a break from her girlfriend no matter what they said or did.

It's obvious that while they love her no matter what, Zoey's folks don't take too kindly to her decision and were about to leave the grounds until this phone call came out of the blue. What would it mean to Zoey if she again decides to take another step towards redemption from her actions not that long ago? It would mark another notch of disobedience on her ever growing belt of independence, but none of that means much to her if she doesn't accomplish anything through it and the people surrounding her don't see that it was truly for the best.

"Now you listen to me you little shit!" Dawn interjects, shocking the three in the room and breaking Zoey's chain of thought as far as whether to jump into the present problem or not. Despite the profane acid overflowing through her and, from Zoey's vantage point, her girlfriend's skin getting even redder, Dawn doesn't miss a beat. "If you think you can just order me along like it's the year 2008 all over again, you're wrong and you're gonna end up with a rude awakening if you think I'm just going to agree to what you say because you claim to have something on me. You don't have shit on me except old, dry, dead stories that no one with a life gives a fuck about."

"You were there with me and you should've gone to prison right along with me," Kenny easily replies. "Do you think I'd just let a lawbreaker continue to walk around like nothing's the matter? You're sorely mistaken."

"You won't let me walk around anymore," Dawn retorts with gritted expression, "because you couldn't imagine taking all of that deserved pain without your companion feeling some of it, too, but allow me the opportunity to show you, again, how truly full of shit you are. For one, you fucking son of a bitch, you dragged me into that hell. For that sin, you deserved every goddamn thing you got in there. Whether you lost your virginity, had to clean up someone's blood after an incident gone bad, or sucked dicks for compassion's sake I don't give a shit. You earned all of that, Kenny. Why would I stand time for you turning me into that life? You were quite smart in school, so go ahead. Explain that for me."

"Frankly, you wallowed in your own piss and shit for years," Kenny speaks right back to his childhood friend, "and there is nothing you, I, your mother or anyone else can say about that, Dawn. You were weak, Dee-Dee; terribly weak and in constant need of someone to care for you and tell you that everything is okay. Hell, you still are weak. I don't have to see you face to face to know that people don't change; things change. Places change, too, but not people. After all Dawn," he pauses holding back a snort and smiling a bit before asking, "isn't that the reason why you're hiding out in the Seafoam Islands with your new piece, Zoey Neale?"

The world could signal the beginning of the end right then and there. The foundations holding the island and its many inhabitants could shake to its core leading to a natural disaster and tragedy, but none of that would matter. Kenny just rocked her foundation to its core and right now, Dawn is after blood. "You know what, screw you and I mean every fucking bit of that, too! Fuck you and fuck your idle, good for nothing threats! They don't mean shit to me and neither do you!"

"All right, I've heard enough!" Zoey yells walking towards Dawn asking her for the phone so she can give this person, she can only assume is Kenny Dalton, a piece of her mind.

Dawn, despite the concern shown for her by Zoey, refuses to relinquish the phone. "Zoey, I appreciate it, but I don't want you wrapped up into my past bullshit, you understand?"

"But Dawn…"

"No buts, okay?" she adamantly but rhetorically asks Zoey. "I'm serious about this and I need to fight my own battle. Besides—actually hang on a second," she says to the three in her room as she brings the receiver back to her mouth and tells Kenny "Stay on the line for now. This conversation is far from over. Do you understand?"

"I had no intention of stopping myself," he speaks from his phone. "Besides, why quit while you're ahead, huh?"

Bringing the phone down to the side of her waist, she irks out the words, "Fucking asshole," before turning her attention back to the Neales. "Listen, you three; I appreciate your concern, but this is a matter I just need to handle on my own."

"Not true, Dawn, and you know it!" Zoey angrily shouts. "I heard you on there just now! That was Kenny and you acted stark raving mad like it was Kenny just thinking of all the shit he put you through. You don't have to go through any of that alone. Trust me; I'm not going anywhere…"

"Goddamn it, Zoey! Stop!" she retaliates with her own just as powerful scream. "Did you hear a single word of what I just said to you? I'm not dragging you through my mess! I refuse to drag your parents and relatives, who've all been so welcoming these past several days, into a problem caused by Dawn Berlitz. No! I refuse to carry that burden on my shoulders. The people Kenny has behind him are dangerous and…I just need to close this chapter and move on because now he's touching you, Zoey, and he's touching your family. This is serious shit and I know how he works. He won't stop until he gets what he wants."

"But, Dawn, didn't you just say that he was making idle threats over the phone?"

"That was for posturing, Zoey. Don't you know? He can't do anything if I let him, right? I'm in control of this situation as far as I'm concerned and there is nothing he can do to stop that. So, I'm gonna go somewhere else and handle this or…"

"No, to be honest," Adman says, interrupting Dawn and breaking the silence from his end, "if you bring that conversation out there, you might draw some unwanted attention and I'm sure you don't want that given the situation, right? Stay in here as long as you need to and we'll make sure you can have your conversation in peace."

Adman was on point with his question. Dawn was not quite ready to reveal all, though that moment would soon come and she wasn't ignorant to that reality. Despite that, if she were loud enough, people who she isn't familiar with might know her most intimate details. Despite her vow to be more open to the people she's closest to, she can still hold some privacy in that regard.

"Dad, that's all well and good," Zoey admits, "but Dawn if you need any help dealing with that S.O.B. on the other end of the line, then don't fear speaking out. Like I told you, and I mean this with all the sincerity in the world, you aren't fighting this alone. You have all of us and we will help you if you need it, but we will respect your wishes if you want to be left alone."

"You'll let me stay here and handle this?"

"That's if you want it, Dawn," Jo-Jo adds. "If it means this dark chapter in your life gets closed once and for all, you have my blessing to do what you need to within reason. We'll leave you alone right now, in fact."

"I really appreciate this, you three," Dawn speaks while she gives all of them a hug and Zoey two kisses while they exit Jo-Jo and Adman's room, closing the door behind them.

Once they're out of the way, she gets back to her conversation by saying, "Hey, Kenny! I'm back."

"Well, isn't that special?" Kenny rhetorically asks. "I was just thinking about calling you back…"

"And as you can tell, there is no need for that. Now what the _hell_ do you want from me? Make it plain like the day is blue."

"The first thing I should note," Kenny says while he circles his way around Dawn's parents, "is that I'm not interested in making any threats not worth carrying out to fruition. I said that you're a coward and you hiding behind Zoey for the past several days indicated just what I said. Why would you blow up over me telling the truth unless you aim to defend the person who gave you a roof over your head, comfort and…perhaps much more in return for your affection? Let's face it; Zoey's just another sucker in a long line of sweets."

"Bullshit, Kenny! You wouldn't say any of that if you got to see us, but that's beside the point. Stay your ass on point, Kenny, and tell me why you're calling me out of the blue like this, because I'm quite curious and would think there'd also be a law against having contact with me post-sentence."

"Again, I've done my time and don't see the point of these post-punishments. You, in the midst of my struggles, however, have lived the life and I don't think that's fair, Dawn. You were dealing right there with me, after all. You might be the angel in your mother's eyes because she's in such denial, but you were just as wretched and in as much turmoil as the next one up.

"What really made you so special, Dawn? You had a mother that made sure to give you respect and reverence in your time of need? Well mom and dad were there for me, too. They loved me, they gave me all that I needed and thought I wanted, but there was a difference. I didn't come back to them a hero of the Sinnoh region. Things didn't work out in my Pokémon coordinating career. It happens and I can't change that. Despite it all, it wasn't in my best interest to come back broke, disappointed, feeling sorry for myself and nothing to show for three and a half years of effort after getting caught in a doping scandal because I was dumb and just wanted to do better in my craft."

As Dawn's father Bryan looks on feeling as if he were a barrel of nerves going through a period of electric therapy, Kenny just jolted his memory as Bryan used coordinating telecasts to keep up with his daughter's progress due to the fact that he couldn't see her as per Johanna's court order. During that time, he did hear of a few coordinators banned from the sport for life because of positive drug tests on their Pokémon. Among the stories he heard were appeals to the contest officials to reconsider their bans, all of which were to no avail, but at no point did he hear if Kenny or anyone else he knew was among those named in the ban until today.

Most every fiber in his being tells him that he shouldn't fear this young teen barging into what was his house and making orders in this manner. That he should get up from this couch and do the so-called manly deed. That he should take the gun from Kenny and assert himself on this ambitious yet once-bitten felon. That he should then proceed to grab that phone and tell Dawn that daddy's here and won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

These are all the things Bryan should do, yet Johanna has kept him from going that route and, yet again, he sees a lot of himself in Kenny and believes that despite the bravado, there is a kid inside their screaming out for some help during trying times.

"I couldn't come back home after that," Kenny informed Dawn. "I was an embarrassment of the highest order, so I didn't even bother wasting my time with that sorry exercise. Yeah, I cheated. I wanted an advantage like no one's business. It cost me, so I went back to them for help."

"I'll say to you this," Dawn says, not knowing or caring if she interrupted Kenny, "You sound like the biggest hypocrite on earth right now because you talk about me being weak, but what does that say about you when you go back to the same people who cost you your coordinating career, left you feeling naked in the crowd, got you in prison yet you go back to them? Who's the hypocrite, Kenny? Yeah, why don't you cry me a river while you're at it, too? You cheated and you got caught. You did drugs and you got caught. You _dealt_ drugs and you got caught. That's what happens when you do the wrong thing. What? You really want people to have sympathy and mercy for you? If that's the case, then you'll really be in for a rude awakening sooner than later."

"But what does that say about you, Dawn?" Kenny questions. "I got caught, and you didn't get caught. You had your mother there to help you, she had her lawyers there and that's the reason you got off scot-free. I couldn't have wished upon any of that much needed shit even if I had a shining star in my fucking back pocket! You cheated the system, you argued the role of the victim and you duped the judge and jury. Far from a great measure of your character by any stretch of the imagination, but you did it and that's why I'm back, and that's why I'm calling you because I have enough evidence to know that you dealt drugs behind my back and did it with no feeling of pressure or threat on my part.

"You did it because you loved it, wanted to impress me and, as usual, didn't know where else to turn. Weak as always, and still clasped onto mama's tit because that's all you'll ever care to know. You'll never stand on your own two feet. That's why Johanna did what she did for you; you can't handle real life…at least not without some incentives along the way. It's pathetic and sooner than later, I swear to whatever God or gods exist, you'll get your reality check, because I'll be damned if I go down alone because someone played the game a little better than me when it counted the most."

"You know, you keep bringing up my mother in all of this, but what I have to wonder is why? You're calling from my mother's phone, meaning you're calling from my mother's house." Weighing her next words carefully, Dawn gathers the inner strength to say, "I don't know what kind of mind games you're playing, but if you think holding my mother hostage will be reason for me to get what you want, you're sorely mistaken, Kenny. Sorely, sorely mistaken."

The truth being what it is Dawn would describe her mood at the moment as frightened. The phone number Kenny used was the same one she used to call home. What would this mean for the health and safety of her mom? She wouldn't know. How could she believe her greatest adversary and take him for word even when he constantly claims that he's not interested in playing games?

Dawn has to be brave and show unquestionable resolve under fire. Such actions will speak to Kenny and no doubt get him to listen to her. Beyond these facts, one unknown remains in the top coordinator's head in the well-being of the most important person throughout her life.

In an attempt to get some answers out of her former friend, she uses some psychology to play to the desires of this mental case and come to some settlement. "What the hell do you want from me, Kenny? What I mean by that before you answer is what do you want from me right now? What do you expect me to do right now with me in the Seafoam Islands and you in Twinleaf Town? Do you have any idea how long a drive that is?"

"Well, maybe you can find out and come here as soon as you can," Kenny figures. "While you come back home, on your own, by the way, you can think about the feeling of coming into your womanhood at last and start finally being honest with yourself and your life."

"Don't try to act like you're on some sort of moral high horse, Kenny," Dawn warns the young man. "It's bad enough that you've done God only knows what to use my mom's phone as a ruse to call me, but now I'm worried. Where is my mother? Damn it; tell me what you've done to her!"

"Nothing," he laconically admits. "She's sitting right here on the couch right now. I could easily put her on the phone, but…it's difficult for me to do that in my position. You have to understand where I'm coming from, Dawn. You have something that I want and now, it seems, I have something you want.

"You couldn't hold it in long enough the fact that you're worried about Johanna. I'd be if I were in the same position, but for now the ball is in your court. Can we help one another out with this? I want to talk. Right now, I might talk a great game, but that's all I want is to talk. When we figure out how to do that one on one, face to face, your role in my prison sentence and the drugs…we'll handle all that later. All I have at this point is time, so I _cherish_ the seconds I get to have here and when we meet again. If I hurt you, your mother or anyone else, what do you think that's gonna solve? Absolutely nothing. So as pissed off as I am at the two of you, I need to compose myself, because it means I can finally get what I want. _All_ secrets have a way of rising to the surface, Dawn Berlitz. I hope you realize that that's not Kenny talking; that's just the way it is."

That's one thing Dawn doesn't need to be told twice. For it, she nearly lost her life, her freedom and the one person who truly caused a click within her psyche. Kenny might be telling the truth about secrets, but to think that in no way people can change is a ludicrous assertion on his part.

Dawn serves as testimony to this newfound belief as Zoey changed her for the better and showed her an existence that may not have been a bed of roses or eternal, bright sunshine, but within revealed authenticity not found in her previous relationships. It's been a week, some might argue and rightfully so, but there are times when the body and the mind give way to a greater power within to affect the thought process and in turn form the catalyst for change that the young man in Twinleaf claims is a fallacy.

She wonders if someone could've just loved him more or given Kenny the affection he deserved in his formative years. Maybe something would've changed then thereby changing his opinion and perhaps altering their history to the point they aren't challenging one another on these humanistic levels. Dawn can't linger on the 'what ifs' right now, however. The proverbial gauntlet has been thrown down to the ground and she must decide what to do from here.

The decision is a far-reaching one, but Dawn has no qualms about reaching just a little further to make sure Kenny isn't bluffing. "Would you please put my mother on the line? I'd like to speak to her now."

"Will you give me your word," Kenny retorts, "that you'll come here as soon as you can? I'm talking no excuses and no exceptions. I want to see you in no less than eighteen hours after we end this conversation on the phone. If you say yes, I'll put your mother on the phone right now and you can talk to her for as long as you wish." A drawing of a seething countenance would accurately exhibit the look of the young Dalton at the moment as he eyes down at Johanna while speaking to her only child.

One wouldn't blame him for not being overly excited at the thought of handing the phone off to Johanna right now. Given that he'll lose a handle on this conversation, he needs to make sure that everyone around him, even those as far away as the Kanto region, know that he's in control of this situation. "I want you to know this as a condition of speaking with your mother, however. If I so much as get an inkling that you, her or anyone else is plotting to have the authorities involved in this matter, well, the next place you'll see your mother…will be the municipal morgue."

Where do the emotions go upon hearing such a statement? Dawn gasps at the thought of Kenny actually being serious as this is the first time she heard Kenny threaten someone's life on the phone line. She wants to believe he's just trying to scare her, but she can't take this as a joke, especially not when he's obviously at the house and done who knows what just to get to this point and get her number.

Wanting to reply back to that threat, which she now dare not call idle after putting the pieces of the puzzle together, she opens her mouth, but then hears another voice on the other end, saying, "That's really crossing the line, Kenny! Threatening someone's life to get a point across and to get someone to follow your lead? When will it stop?"

It was faint, but she knew it wasn't her mom and certainly knew it wasn't Kenny, his voice still containing a higher pitch compared to most sixteen-year-old males. No, this voice was quite deeper. It certainly was the faint but obvious voice of an older man, but who was this guy? The way it sounded, he got caught up in this mess and couldn't find a way out. Maybe he wasn't supposed to be there. After all, her mom never evidenced bringing foreign men into the house with the lone exception being those who'd help her with matters of the home, insurance or other external needs and wants.

Dawn wants to know, and asks, "Kenny, who was that?" but on the other end of the line, she heard a thump similar to someone testing a microphone.

From there, a faint voice yells "Shut up, Bryan!" away from the receiver. "Nothing will happen to either of you if you don't want it to, so take a page from your ex-wife and just do what the fuck I say!"

She needs to sit down. "No," she speaks, though not into her phone. Now she's grabbing her forehead with her left hand feeling a sudden headache hitting her fiercely. It couldn't be after all these years, but apparently Kenny inadvertently let the cat out the bag, revealing that not only is he holding Dawn's mother hostage, but also her estranged father. "How?" she wonders. "Why?" What would he being doing suddenly reentering her life in this most unusual of circumstances? Why did he show up at her home around this time when she's not there? She wants answers and wants this story to come to an end for good, but where could she possibly begin?

A few pictures, some faint memories dating back to her preschool and kindergarten days, but that's all she has of her biological father, Bryan Berlitz. She has no explanation of why he left other than his mother saying that he had no choice but to go and 'go' he went not showing up in Dawn's life again. No photos, no letters, no phone calls; not even carrying pigeons got to Dawn. Her father might as well have fallen off the end of the earth. Now, not only has he suddenly risen again like the bright and morning star, he's apparently caught up in her web of debauchery and deceit. How unfortunate could one be to find herself in such a deep morass yet have the figurative mud continuously rain over her while her bed suddenly feels much like sinking sand.

Her solid rock eroded in the midst of this new foundation. Despite her newest shock, Dawn can't worry about herself too much as she gets up from her temporary seat and yells to Kenny, "Leave them alone, goddamn it! You want me, Kenny, not them so stop it! Look, I'll come see you. You have my word, all right? Now let me talk to my _mother_, please."

"Give me a second and I'll put her on the line. Just hold tight." Kenny pulls the phone away from him to look down at Johanna and then bring the phone close to her. "When you talk to her, just remember that she's agreed to come here. Nothing you say or do will change that, so don't waste your damn time. Along with that, refrain from any discussions on the authorities for the reasons I just spoke to your daughter about. Take as much time as you want, but when you're done I want to speak with her again. Do you understand?"

Sighing, Johanna is unknowingly in the same boat as her daughter in that she just wants to hear from Dawn. The situation with her hostage taker is what it is, but she hasn't heard from her only child in a while. Though she relented at first with Kenny, she couldn't hold it in forever. Despite the misgivings of her ex-husband, it does her conscience well to know that her daughter is at least at peace with her decision.

Grabbing the phone from Kenny, she's not prepared to see him immediately sit next to her with his pistol in hand, pointing it near her side. Shaking her head, she sincerely asks him, "Is that really fucking necessary?"

"I told you," he reiterates, "outside of any funny business, you can talk with her about whatever you want; you can even bash me, because I'm not above such criticisms, but if you two are plotting to turn me in, I will turn you off. Now go ahead. Dawn's waiting."

Another shake of the head signals to Kenny her displeasure for this move on his part. He's already made his point crystal clear. Why go this route if _some _doubt of his objectives didn't exist? That is something she can parse later, but for now Johanna takes a deep breath and says, "Hello, Dawn."

"Hey, mom," she replies finding it difficult to keep the tears in for different reasons. "It's so good to hear from you."

"Same here," Johanna acquiesces. "Listen, I want you to know that I don't believe anything Kenny said about you just now. You are very brave and you have changed into quite the young woman. You've…even overwhelmed me with some of the changes, but I guess those were some I had to expect in some form or fashion. You're still growing and I just look foward to see what happens next. You've got enough maturity to determine this direction to go in this…bunk. That ought to say something about you and I trust that you know what you're doing once you get here. Look, I know it hasn't been a model childhood, Dawn. Some of that was my fault. I was in denial about the drugs," she admits while her voice breaks and Bryan watches this verbal catharsis take place.

He silently salutes his ex-wife for having the humility to admit that, "I thought that a quick fix, some money and some tough love would do the trick. Well, I was wrong, Dawn. Do you hear me? There were times where I let you get loose when it would've done both of us a world of good if I would've took you in and wrapped you in my arms not daring to let go for any reason." At this point, she's in tears but Johanna is not finished with her admissions.

"I'm sorry for not at least seeing you face to face during the breakup with Paul. Now that I think about it, that's got to be one of the most disheartening things for a young teen to hear. Why the hell would I just tell you that life goes on and that there are other fishes in the sea? Why wouldn't I be uplifting you at all? I don't—I can't speak on all my missteps as a single parent here over the phone, but the fact that we're here and…there's still a chance for us to be the best family we can be means that this story isn't over. It can have a happy ending if we truly work on it. History is a stone tablet, but I'm willing to continue with a clean slate."

"I want to do that, too, mom," Dawn admits. "It's not your fault that I got caught up in mess after mess. You did a fine job even if you didn't have a lot of help and I appreciate all that you've done for me. I believe in all of that and I believe that there is a power inside us to change and a desire much the same. I want to move forward, but I need to go back for just a moment and I want to know about…my father."

Dawn left it at that for a few seconds and puts the ball in Johanna's court as far as where to take her most recent words. There's silence and then the daughter hears a few deep breaths and gets the sense that this might be an area where she needs to push. "Mom…"

"Listen, Dawn," Johanna unconsciously reacts.

"No, this isn't something I'm willing to let slide, mom!" she immediately speaks, laying down the line for her mother. "Parenting issues are what they are. Your problems and my problems are what they are, but I know he's there! Kenny mentioned a Bryan Berlitz over the phone. What are the odds, mom? I'm not gonna be the only one with feet directly held to the fire today if I have to make a ten hour drive back home to Twinleaf once I get off this goddamn phone. Did it ever occur to you that after twelve years a girl might have some questions about her father that deserve a much better answer than 'Ask me when you get older.' Please, I…hate to imagine it, but I get the sense from what you're saying that you had something to do with my father not being in my life."

"Dawn…"

"I'm not finished!" she interrupts. "Once again, I always think the puzzle is complete but new pieces keep getting thrown into the air for whatever reason. He never really abandoned us, did he?"

"Listen Dawn," Johanna begins, still attempting to save face while her daughter plays detective a region away. "Like I told you, I made many mistakes raising you."

"Ma'am, with all due respect, I asked you a yes or no question. Please…don't be a hypocrite in the midst of this discussion. It's one thing for you to tell me how much of a young woman I'm becoming, saying how I'm growing up so quickly in front of your eyes and calling me brave. Believe me, all that's appreciated. What gives me pause, though, is you dodging my simple question and treating me like some child that can't tell when she's getting the runaround. I'm sick of it, mom! I'm sixteen fucking years old, not a little kid by any means, so if I can't handle this now tell me when the appropriate time is so we come to a true understanding. In fact, I'll make it easy for you and ask my question again. Did my father really abandon us, yes or no?"

Her child has Johanna's number. Although it's not in her interest to divulge everything over the phone, Dawn wants her honesty and Johanna lightly nods her head in affirmation towards Bryan that the truth will be told from this point forward. "Dawn, he did leave us, and he didn't at the same time."

"Wait—what—what the hell? What does that even mean? Mom? Mom, are you still there?"

The truth is Johanna left Dawn with more questions than answers with that response, but at the same time, she is negotiating with Kenny to pass the phone over to Bryan right now. Kenny doesn't say a word during that exchange, but he does motion that Johanna can pass the phone over to her ex. "I still want the phone when he's finished, though."

"No problem," Bryan says eagerly awaiting this opportunity while Johanna explains her answer to Dawn.

"I really think that…your father can better explain what I mean than me," she concedes. "I've been doing a lot of talking through the years, but…I think it's time you hear what happened and why he hasn't been in your life. Okay, Dawn? I'm about to turn the phone over to your dad. Hang on, please, and keep an open mind."

In less than a second, Johanna passes the receiver to Bryan looking him dead in the eye as she does this fully aware that this is a moment that she can't turn back from and pretend never existed. It is at this juncture she loses the power to have her daughter on her side and to influence her from that end. At the same time, however, she considers what she gains upon hearing her ex-husband say, "Hello, Dawn? It's me…your-your father."

"My…father." She's stubborn, headstrong and not one to think ahead too far, but right now her pride is quickly melting from her as Dawn tears up at the realization that she's actually speaking to her father, Bryan Berlitz, for the first time since she was a young child. Does she have many questions? Undoubtedly. Is there a feeling of uneasiness within her belly? She wouldn't be human if there weren't. At this time, though, those are feelings that have taken a back seat to the pure elation of a daughter listening to her father speak. It almost caused her to miss the next words Bryan had for his estranged child.

"Dawn I know you have a lot of questions for me and rightfully so. If there is one thing I want you to know, it's that I never stopped loving or thinking about you during this time. You were always my inspiration to get clean and getting back into the good graces of your mother was the key to that because I was weak. Johanna—your mother…did the right thing when she took custody of you when you were just four because the truth is…I let drugs tear us apart. I was addicted and it took control causing me to at times go violent. I know what you've been through and it's an ugly ordeal saying nothing of being a teenager at the time. I'm one to talk when I hardly grew up yet tried to maintain a family at the time."

"How did you know I had issues with drugs?"

"Your mother and I would keep in contact as much as we could at the time," he answers. "I was in my third recovery center and I'd keep a picture of you there to give me inspiration for staying clean. The third time was the charm and at that point, I wanted to step in and offer support, but Johanna begged me to focus on my recovery while you do the same. Initially, I granted her that wish and as time went on; I graduated from the program and realized she made the right call. If I were going to be a positive influence I had to have my house in order, and I did that. Your mother had her reasons, but I would never get the chance to see you during this time. It's like that old saying; once bitten, twice shy.

"I made her life a living hell during my addiction to heroin and methamphetamines, Dawn," he freely admits. "You were only four years old. She didn't want you around that and you did nothing to deserve to be around that, so she threw me out and told me that it would be either the drugs or my family. So, as you can imagine, I didn't quite get it at the time like I get it right now. You couldn't have been in a happy place at the time. I know I can only imagine, but I'm sure it had to be tough. I didn't help matters and daddy was off his rocker and out in the world doing whatever, but I'm here now, Dawn and I promise you that I'll be here as long as you need me for whatever you need me."

There are many questions she still has that she doesn't want to save for a phone conversation. There are many holes in both her parent's stories, but all of that can wait. All of that has its place and for Dawn, that's not something she's interested in learning right now.

At this point, she knows her destination. She's going back home to see her mom and dad and to speak with Kenny. She has a loaded plate, but Dawn will take it if it means that this current chapter can end on a great note with future chapters likely to be better than her early teens. "It's so good to hear that from you," she tearfully yet joyfully speaks. "I can't wait to see you and mom. I don't know what I'll do from there. I don't even know what I'll do when I see you in person but…I can't wait. I'm just so glad that we can soon get everything in some semblance of order. I'm sorry that you're in my mess, dad."

"Dawn, I'm not in a position to fault you for anything except you living your life. If I were even a tenth of the father I should've been, who knows what would've happened, but I'm ready for you whenever you come and…I'll support you even with the things I don't immediately understand."

Dawn can tell that the conversation has the potential to get deep at any moment. She's not necessarily in favor of that if it's over the phone. Despite that, she's implicitly figured out a lot in just these few minutes on the phone with her folks. Among them being that they've spoken to each other since their divorce. Questions of how often, where and when remain a mystery, but at least she knows that the two are adult enough to talk on their issues.

She also knows that her dad went through his share of problems with drugs and that mom, even after Bryan did everything he could to get clean, held him back from her because of concern that his once violent ways would resurface. Dawn just doesn't know what to make of her mom's actions and doesn't think that she can resolve that issue over the phone, so she'll give her mom the benefit of the doubt until she can get a personal explanation.

One thing she would like to clarify right now is how Bryan found his way home and in a hostage situation. "I want to know I've had issues with Kenny dating back to when I was thirteen. From what I gather, you weren't there, but mom kept you apprised of my progress in rehab. All that is fine, but I've been clean for many years like you have. It's a great feeling, and I think you would come over while I was out on my journey, but I'm curious. Did you come over this time because of Zoey?"

Nodding on the other end Bryan answers his daughter, saying, "Yes. I came over earlier because I felt this was the straw that broke the camel's back. I wanted to see you and how you were doing. I was ready to beg your mother to go to the courts and have the current custody ruling changed because I missed you, Dawn. You're getting older and that means more serious relationships for you, without a doubt. Whether it was a girl or not, I really don't give a fuck as long as the person treats you right."

"Zoey's been…great to me. Not to say we haven't had issues this past…"

"Say no more, Dawn," Bryan interjects. "You don't need to defend your relationship with Zoey over the phone. We'll have plenty of time with that even though I have a lot of catching up to do. One day, though, I would love to meet her and get to know her, too. Where exactly are you right now?"

"Her beach house. She's hosting her family reunion."

"So family is really important to her?"

"Her family means the world, but dad she's had feelings for me for almost five years. We had an incident and they wanted to give us a break, really separate us for one month, but she refused. I…couldn't believe it. Frankly, I've never been more proud of anyone than I was of her at that moment. There's no guarantee of what happens right now because that's put a real wedge between Zoey, myself and her folks, but we'll work it out and they'll understand why we should stay together. Shoot, I'm defending Zoey here when you said I didn't have to do that."

"All that said, it sounds like you really care for and she does for you," Bryan figures. "Aside from that, I honestly think you have to know where your mom is coming from when she does something or says something that you may not agree with. This is all brand new for your mother. Like me, she just wants to see you happy. That doesn't mean she'll never get concerned, though. I think, and this is not something that has to happen right away, you should just take some time you'd spend with Zoey and spend it with Zoey and your mom together. That way, she'll get a sense of what gravitated you to her, you can learn of some of her concerns and it can all happen while you're bonding, just like if you brought a boyfriend home. After all, it's not the sex, but the relationship that comes first."

"You're right, and I'm thankful that through all my nonsense I'm still a virgin."

This is not something that Bryan expected to hear from Dawn, but he's so happy to hear this from his daughter. He's been prone to breaking down a few times while talking with Dawn, but this news took the cake as he begins to tear up. Despite what Kenny said earlier, she had the common sense to know that adding sex into the equation would form a negative result, meaning she wasn't. "Frankly, so am I. Look I think you're already aware of this, but it will save you a ton of heartache and tribulation if you keep saving yourself for the right person. I didn't do it and I had no clue of what it meant to settle down. I wasn't ready to give up being the center of attention to young ladies, but it was ridiculous and amounted to nothing short of a tower of shame when I got caught in paternity scandals later. Thankfully, all of them were cleared up, and to this day you remain my only child, but you obviously don't have to go down that route.

"Save yourself for the right person and it will be that much sweeter. It may not be your wife, or husband, or whatever, but that's ultimately your decision. The right one will come along, though, and you'll know it because you feel that no one else would lay themselves down for only you and take all your sadness away just so you don't have to cry. Despite that, you'll know and in the end, you'll really know if you have no regrets whatsoever. Can you still live a life without regrets, Dawn?"

Can she not live life without regrets at this point? She's not sure if that's even a realistic proposition but there is some substance in it. She herself has barely begun to live and with the average Sinnoh woman expected to live to age 79, she finds herself at only the end of the first act of a five-act saga. "I can't control what's happened," she openly figures with her father, "but I can look myself in the mirror every day and aspire to be my best for that day. I'll give myself that much."

"You're giving yourself more than most, Dawn. Again I've lost so much time because of my bad choices and people's fear that I couldn't change. Right now, there's a small window of opportunity, but I would love to be your dad and not just a name on a birth certificate. We can talk more when you get here. I want to see you so badly it's making me shiver. I'm nervous but damn it, I'm ready. After twelve years, I ought to be ready. Please come soon, Dawn. Please travel safely, and always know that I love you."

"I love you too…Dad."

"Thank you," Bryan speaks. "I'm handing the phone to Kenny now and…I believe he has some final things to say to you before he ends the conversation."

"Okay, I'll see you soon, dad," serve as her final words before she goes back home to see him again. A few seconds pass as the phone, unbeknownst to Dawn, passes through three sets of hands before getting back to Kenny.

Though she can't see him right now, the family conversation has really gotten to him. Pride keeps him from breaking down but he is legitimately happy that Dawn's father is now dedicated to getting back into his daughter's life. He holds it in knowing he came this far with a job to do and now is the time for him to follow through. "Now, I want to make this brief because you have agreed to travel a long way back home. Remember, calling the authorities means that we will have a major problem. If you call back here because you have issues with travel, I'll personally make arrangements to get you here if you're willing to tell me where you are. If you expect to run late, meaning you won't get here until after Monday morning, please call ahead. Above all else, I expect you here tomorrow _alone_. There's a lot we have to talk about. Despite my feelings toward you I agree with what your dad said; get here safely. There's a lot here waiting for you. Until Monday morning I'll see you, Dawn. Goodbye."

"Okay," she says while she hears a click over letting her know that the phone conversation is over, clocked in at thirty-eight minutes, forty-three seconds. It was a long discussion, but it can't compare to what's bound to be talked about when she goes home. Dawn's got a long time to prepare for this and it means that now she has to explain her impromptu reason for leaving to the Neale family and needs to do it now.

Much like her father a region away, she's nervous about this, but eagerly anticipating going back home. Initially, she gets back up to head out the door, see Jo-Jo, Adman and Zoey and explain her plans. Two steps from the door, she decides instead to bring her phone back out and call Adman.

She just as easily could've called Zoey, but ultimately decided not to because she didn't want anyone to convince her not to do this. Zoey has already voiced her displeasure with Kenny. Dawn just couldn't imagine a scenario where her girlfriend doesn't attempt to try and join her when she's clearly expressed her dissenting opinion on that matter.

Dawn has Zoey's dad as one of her contacts cutting down the time it takes for her to hear one ring, than a second, a third and then, "Hello?"

"Hey, Adman. It's me, Dawn."

"Is everything all right with you?"

"I promise you, sir, it will be all right sooner than later," she assures the family man, "but I do need to speak to your wife and Zoey in just a moment. There's been a change of plans."

"Dawn?" Adman questions.

"Please," she interrupts, "I'll explain everything, but only to your faces."

"Okay, I'll gather the two and we'll meet back in our room."

"I'll meet you three in a few minutes." The two give one another their goodbyes and Dawn goes back to playing the waiting game in the midst of her very torn but driven emotional state.

'I can't be convinced not to go,' she thinks. 'That's not an option at this point.' Dawn has no more time to ponder her next moves because she hears three knocks at the door.

Dawn hears Zoey's voice and gets up from the bed to unlock the door and welcome her girlfriend and her parents. Before starting, she asks Jo-Jo, the closest to the door, to shut it, which she does.

Taking a few deep breaths, Dawn tempers herself before revealing her plans to the three. "First off, I want to thank you three and your family for your hospitality this past week."

Zoey lowers her head for a bit. It almost sounds as if she's attempting to damage control a situation before even announcing it. 'That doesn't sound good, but I'll hold judgment for now.'

"There is a situation which arose back home, though, and I need to leave and take care of it in a few hours," she says. While not being completely frank on her matters, Dawn gives enough necessary details to emphasize the importance of her getting back to Twinleaf Town. "If I do this and all goes well, my previous problems will no longer be a factor in my life. Please understand, though, that to do all of this, I need to go alone."

"You don't need to that, Dawn, and you know it," Zoey responds as Dawn proposes what in her mind is a deal breaker. All this time and energy she's spent to recover her relationship and suddenly, out of the blue, she's calling this meeting to say that she has to go back to Twinleaf Town for what she can only assume is Kenny pulling a 'gotcha' on her and forcing her hand through a stunt or charade. "Don't give into Kenny's idle threats. Whatever he has on you is probably not admissible in court, the statue of limitations has expired and whatever else."

"It's more than that, Zoey," Dawn admits. "It's gone beyond idle threats the way I see it. He's held my parents hostage in my mom's home and if I go there and do what he tells me, he won't hurt him. I hope you understand I can't take this lightly at all."

"Why not call the police on him, Dawn?"

"That's one of his requirements," she nervously informs Adman. "If I call the authorities or conspire to do it, he has a gun and he's not afraid to use it on my folks."

The sense in the room initially was one where Zoey and her folks were in some sort of agreement that Dawn should stand up to Kenny's words and hold her ground, not giving into her past temptation. Now knowing that he's in her home with a weapon and unafraid of using it the feelings changed, if only for a moment before one girl interjects on a curious bullet in her admissions.

"Interesting that you keep saying 'folks'," Zoey figures while digesting her girlfriend's words. "You've talked to me about not seeing your father in more than a decade and I've only ever met your mom. Did something come up in this that's…buoyed your desire to go back home?"

Right now, Dawn's affairs amount to the proverbial diamond in the rough. She has no qualms whatsoever talking about this to her girlfriend's family. She was going to mention it, but Zoey cracked her cryptic words and just brought out this news earlier than planned. "Kenny's held my mother…_and_ my father hostage. I talked to them both on the phone just now. He never abandoned me, Zoey. That was a fallacy. That's not to say he didn't have his share of problems, but that's nothing we can't work out with time. So you see, this will be the first time I'll get to see him in twelve years," she emphasizes as her voice begins to break due to the emotion within her at this moment. "Nothing anyone can say or do will keep me from doing this. I just ask for everyone's cooperation and for you all to respect my wishes. This is my matter and I aim to take care of it when I leave in about two hours."

If ever there were a turning point or swing in emotions for someone, Zoey just felt it as Dawn ran down the reason why she's going back to Twinleaf Town. Putting herself in her girlfriend's shoes, she might never have had this discussion with the people near her. She might not have even bothered to pack knowing she'd meet a long lost and close relative. So while she initially objected fully to the idea of Dawn going, she's much more receptive to the idea.

A good part of her still doesn't like it, though, as she shakes her head and explains. "Sometimes I really admire your spunk, Dawn. Nothing gets in your way if you don't want it to, but…this really goes beyond our relationship. You get to see your father again and hopefully stick it to Kenny while you're at it. God, are you _sure _there's nothing I can do here, Dawn! Damn it, I want to help you!"

"You can help me by keeping me in your thoughts and prayers…"

"No offense, but I mean something far more concrete and substantial, like what I feel for you," Zoey responds. Walking up closer to her girlfriend, Zoey gently holds her shoulders and says "Listen, I mean with all that I can muster that as long as you're by my side, you're never truly fighting alone." Tears are exiting her eyes again, like they did as she defended this relationship to her parents. "Are you sure I can't come with you? Do something to…help you close this door once and for all? You don't have to ask me to do this. I'd gladly do it."

"I'm sorry, but I gave him my word," Dawn replies, the tension between the two further escalating as the minutes tick down. "'Come alone,' he told me and, Zoey, that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Trust me, I know Kenny, I know the company he keeps. They're bad news and it's for the best that you stay here and have a great time. This will only take three days at most. You have every right to be concerned, and so do your parents. I won't put you in danger, Zoey, and you shouldn't do that to yourself either. So please—this is hard for both of us, especially after the road we _just _traveled, but respect my wishes and stay here. That would be the best help I could possibly ask for right now. Do you understand me?"

Dawn brings her girlfriend in for a squeeze of an embrace, the two in tears as they know what awaits them in being apart.

Jo-Jo and Adman look on and both of them have quite somber looks. It was not even an hour ago they wanted Zoey and her love interest to take a break from one another. They were the most disappointed that Zoey didn't respect their wishes, but with this sudden turn of events they ultimately got what they wanted. Despite this, the two can't take any pride or hold their heads high at this news. Not when this situation involving Dawn's mom and dad hangs in the balance.

"I don't have to like it," Zoey tells Dawn, "but I'll respect your wishes and leave you to take care of business in Twinleaf. If you need anything, please let me know and I'll see what I can do. You can take my Ferrari if you want."

"But Zoey, you worked so hard to get it."

"Things come and go, Dawn," she replies. "People are what matter and I would be very slack if I didn't give you something, _anything_, through this."

"I have time, okay? I'll think about it."

Letting go of the hug, Zoey nods her head and continues to cry when she says, "Yeah, go ahead. You think about it. I'll—I gotta go." Without telling anyone in the room with her where she's going, Zoey opens the door and walks out, shutting the door behind her.

"She'll come around, Dawn," Adman says a few seconds after Zoey leaves. "I think you're doing the right thing here. I'm sure Zoey does, too, but she's stubborn and whenever she sees a cause, it's in her nature to jump on it and work to a resolution. From what you're saying, that's not gonna be possible if Zoey comes with you?"

"That's right, and not to mention I'm also going there to see my father. I mentioned my relationship with Zoey and that's actually one of the reasons he went to see my mom. He's fine with it and wants me safe and happy like you two."

"We'll just hold off for now and keep an eye on Zoey to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid," Jo-Jo says, wanting to do her part to help Dawn. Looking her right in the eyes, she throws her support behind her daughter's girlfriend, affirming, "Without a doubt, you'll be in my thoughts, Dawn. I trust that you know what happens from here and how to handle matters at home. I think…I saw something between you and Zoey, though. I saw something very encouraging for my heart and…your relationship."

* * *

"Rocky?" Zoey calls after knocking on her bedroom door. Zoey hears her oldest sister say 'come in', which she does to find Rocky at a desk chair with her phone out on the desk.

Once coming in, Rocky immediately notices the tears in her sister's eyes and asks, "Are you okay? Did everything work out with mom and dad?"

"I…it's hard to say for sure," Zoey admits. "I think they did, but Dawn needs to leave soon and head back home to take care of an issue. They wanted to separate us, but…we worked to prove that we didn't for nearly half an hour…then she makes up her mind to head back to Twinleaf Town."

"So you really don't know how things worked out for you?"

"I don't, but listen. I'll figure out what to do next there, but I believe you have your own situation. I'll say it one more time; don't put off coming out much longer. If you want me there, I'll be there for you. You putting this off does no one any favors. You undercut yourself and there's no need for you to do that. Come out of the closet for your sake."

Looking off to the side at her phone, back to Zoey and, again, to her phone, Rocky explains, "Zoey, I've thought about that since you told me to go in this direction. I appreciate you offering help but there is someone who I want there with me. I just don't know where she is or if she's interested."

"Was she an ex?"

Rocky nods her head and explains, "We broke up a year or so after I graduated from college. She wanted me to come out then and I wasn't interested. That's the reason why we aren't together, because I had strong feelings for her and I doubt they stopped on her end, too. She was adamant about not keeping this a secret and was…probably more brave than you to come out in her early teens considering her dad is a clergyman."

"Wow!" Zoey interjects. "Would I know her?"

"Probably."

"So…why not contact her?" she wonders not needing to know the name right away.

"We haven't spoken in about three years," Rocky answers. "I don't even know if she has the same phone number, is around, is interested, whatever. I don't know."

"Well…why not find out? You have a number, right?"

"Yeah."

"Go ahead, then. This is the first step, Rocky. If someone out there can help you, that's great too. The more help and the more shoulders we can lean on, the better. Call her right now."

"Right now?"

"Right now," Zoey affirms.

"All right," she says, going down her list of contacts until she gets to the letter 'S'. Touching the name gives her an option of numbers of which she chooses this person's cell phone number and waits for a ring.

* * *

The ring interrupts the slumber of a young adult woman in the backseat of a taxicab. The vibration on the right side of her pocket awakens her and leaves her scrambling to figure out who's calling her.

She thought she turned her phone off earlier, but obviously that was not the case as she turns it around to look at the display screen and open her eyes wide at a name she hasn't seen flash on her phone in years.

"You have _got_ to be shitting me," she softly remarks as she looks at the name 'Becky', contemplates even answering this call before finally hitting the answer button on her phone.

"Well, look who the wind brought my way."

"Right after you look at what the sun shined down my direction," Rocky slyly retorts. "Hey, Solidad."

"Solidad?" Zoey inquires, not believing her ears. Rocky nods her head affirming what Zoey thought.

"Rebecca, is that really you?"

"Yeah. It's me, girl."

"Becky, you—you'll have to excuse me. You called me while I was sleeping. It's been a long time."

"Really long," Rocky agrees. "Is it a…bad time? I mean you just said you were sleeping."

"Oh, no! It's fine. I could really stand to listen to a friend right now…even if it has been three years."

"Same here and please don't remind me how long it's been."

"So what caused you to call me out of the blue today of all days, Becks?"

Rocky loved the pet names Solidad had for her. Even though she's been known by her family as Rocky since at least age six, there's no denying the tingle she gets hearing 'Becky' or the not so shortened 'Becks' from the Kanto Top Coordinator.

Solidad made an impact in Rocky's life, for sure, because few people convinced her to come out with as much conviction as her. She didn't heed her words then and it cost her someone who cared about her and wasn't simply interested in a good time.

"Well, Solidad," Rocky begins, "I think I'm finally ready to do some growing up."

* * *

A/N: My most popular story is back and not a moment too soon! By the time you've read this, I'll be on vacation and won't respond to reviews until Tuesday or Wednesday. Hope you enjoy after a year hiatus and hopefully, the next chapter won't take nearly as long.

Next chapter will cover many stories not dealing with the main one as we further explore the relationship between Rocky and Solidad.

Until next time, this is Rave!


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